confessions of a teenager in denial
by CherryxDarling
Summary: You may live in Fantasyland today, Sam, but tomorrow...well, tomorrow reality is going to give you a HUGE slap in the face. "Thanks, Tucker. I needed that." -- DannyPaulina, DannySam, among others.
1. ex girlfriend syndrome

**Yes, finally. The author of **_**Just What the Doctor Ordered**_** is back with another Danny Phantom fic. Happy to see me?**

**Disclaimer: I don't Danny Phantom. But I will. Someday. Just you wait and see.**

**--**

"You're bitter." Tucker grinned.

I glared back. "I am _not_ bitter. Just a little…disgruntled." I nodded firmly.

Tucker snorted. My glare went up ten-fold. "I don't believe a word you say."

My mouth dropped. "_Why_ would I be bitter? Because Paulina is dating Danny? And now Danny has ditched us, and no guy would ever go out with me except for _Dash?_" I hissed.

Tucker shrugged. "It's okay, Danny's not on my good side either. But…that's creepy, Sam. Dash likes you." He glanced behind him towards the Popular Table and spotted Dash. Staring at me. "He's staring at you."

I ducked down a little. "He's _always_ staring at me."

Tucker shook his head. "Damn. I bet you wish it was Danny staring at you instead of Dash." He smirked.

I glared at him, again, and then I threw my tofu sandwich at him.

**confessions of a teenager in denial**

**Chapter 1:**

**ex-girlfriend syndrome**

**--**

I stood at my locker, dumbfounded. I was just _appalled_. Shocked. Stunned. Surprised.

Why was I left out of everything? Danny was my best friend, and he had always been my best friend. And now he was making out with Paulina at her locker.

My shock eventually gave out to anger, and I slammed my locker as hard as I could, hoping to startle them. No luck.

Tucker walked up to me. "So, Danny and Paulina." He stated without a "Hi", "Hello", or even an "Are you okay that our best friend is dating your worst enemy?" But maybe he already knew the answer to that.

I nodded, a disgusted look on my face. "How long has this been going on, do you think?"

Tucker shrugged. "Probably a few days."

"I thought he was our _friend_. I mean, dating Paulina is one thing. But ignoring us and doing stuff behind our backs just takes the cake!" I exclaimed, obviously still angry. Tucker nodded in agreement, knowing better than to interrupt me while I'm ranting. "If he thinks that I'm helping him tonight with his _stupid _ghost-hunting crap, he's SO WRONG!"

With those last words, I turned around and started walking down the hallway, going in the opposite direction of Danny and his new girlfriend.

Even though my class was that way.

--

_Sam, _

_Are you mad at me? _

_-Danny_

No, Danny. I've just been ignoring you and sending you and Paulina death glares because I enjoy my blood pressure reaching sky-high levels. I _want_ to have a heart-attack.

_Danny,_

_Maybe._

_-Sam._

I smiled at the expression on his face as he read my vague answer. That shows him.

We were in Chemistry, the absolutely worse class of the day, because Danny sits behind me and Paulina sits in front of me. Oh, and I'm also very bad at Chemistry. Yuck.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Danny rip another piece of paper out of his notebook and start writing. Good. I hope he has to use his whole notebook on me, begging and groveling for forgiveness. And then after awhile, and maybe after he buys me lunch, I will reluctantly forgive him. And then we all live happily-ever-after.

_Sam, _

_Is this about Paulina, by any chance?_

_- Danny._

You're so dense, Danny. _Yes_, it's about Paulina. IT'S ALWAYS PAULINA.

_Danny, _

_What would make you say that?_

_- Sam._

It's in my nature as a teenage girl to be cryptic and confusing. It's not my fault Danny's dense and clueless. He shouldn't be going out with Paulina anyways! She's an evil bitch!

I started glaring daggers at the back of Paulina's head. If only looks could kill…

_Sam, _

_Well…me and Paulina are kind of…well, dating. Are you mad?_

_- Danny._

Oh, so NOW you tell me! It's not like I didn't see you making out in the hallway this morning, so why the hell are you telling me this _now?_ It's kind of late, buddy.

_Danny, _

_Oh, really? That's…great. _

_I'm not mad._

_- Sam._

Okay, teenage girl or not, I probably should've told him that I was mad. Someone as clueless as Danny won't ever see the truth. Now he's going to ask me to-

_Sam, _

_Okay, I'm glad._

_Help me with any ghost-hunting tonight?_

_- Danny._

My face fell, and I ripped the note up, just in case someone were to read it. I put on my best fake smile and turned to him slightly, nodding. He smiled and nodded back.

Damn. I'm such a sucker.

--

I stood on the Fentons' front porch, my eyes on the sunset beside me. Hey, at least he still wanted me to go ghost-hunting with him. I could convince him that Paulina was evil and to break up with her-

The front door suddenly opened, and Jack Fenton smiled down at me. "Hi, Mr. Fenton. Is Danny here?"

He nodded, opening the door wider so I could walk in. "He's in the kitchen. Maddie! Where did I put the Fenton Extractor?!" And he turned to walk down the hallway. I just rolled my eyes and shut the front door, making my way to the kitchen. I stopped in the doorway, my eyes wide and my mouth open.

Well, Mr. Fenton hadn't told me that _Paulina _was here, also.

They didn't even notice me come in, and by all the books and papers spread out across the kitchen table, they were supposed to be studying. But what they were doing sure didn't _look_ like studying.

After a moment, I cleared my throat quiet loudly, crossing my arms over my chest. They broke apart from their make-out session and I had a weird-feeling in my chest all of a sudden. I couldn't name the feeling, but I really didn't like it.

Jealousy, perhaps?

Ha, no. Me, jealous? Never. Especially not of _Paulina_, of all people. I would have laughed if I knew I wouldn't be called crazy.

Paulina gave me a mock-sweet smile. "Um…Sam, is it? Hello. Me and Danny…we were just studying." Her tone was apologetic, but I knew better. Paulina was never sorry for anything, especially when it had to do with ruining my life.

I mimicked her smile and shrugged. "I'm sure you were."

Danny looked ashamed and embarrassed, and I found that he couldn't even look at me in the face. I thought that if he was _really_ ashamed, he wouldn't even be with Paulina right now. Especially if he KNEW that I was coming over, the stupid bastard.

I watched as Paulina took her time picking up her books, and I politely (HA!) looked away as she gave him a good-bye kiss. I just stood there as Danny walked her to the door and I silently wondered to myself: _Why do I even bother?_

--

My life is such a tragedy.

I mean, in all seriousness, Danny is truly my best friend, and I know Paulina. She's just using him (for what, I have yet to find out), and she's going to end up breaking his heart. Unless _I_ have a say in it, of course.

Tucker told me not to worry, that Danny will be fine, and once this weird stage of wanting to be popular and dating Paulina is over, then he'll come crawling back to us and we'll pick him up and pretend like nothing ever happened.

But nothing _has_ to happen at ALL, if he would just listen to me.

I mean SERIOUSLY, I've been trying for the past half hour to convince to COME BACK TO ME AND TUCKER BEFORE PAULINA BREAKS YOUR HEART AND YOU'RE HUMILIATED, PLEASE, but to no avail. He's unshakeable. And since when? I'm his best friend (or at least, I _THOUGHT _I was his best friend!), he should really listen to me. I know best.

And I really wish I didn't have to scold him like I was his mother, but he's leaving me with no choice. This is his own doing.

So now I was standing on the ground, waiting for Danny to catch the Box Ghost so I could yell at him some more. Er, I mean…help him. Yes.

He landed gracefully in front of me, holding the Fenton Thermos. He smiled at me, as if we hadn't been yelling at each other just a few minutes ago, and I frowned in return.

"Danny."

"Sam, not now. I'm tired. And I don't see why you're so mad anyways!" He walked past me, and I struggled to keep up with him.

"I'm not mad, Danny, I swear! It's just that I believe Paulina will hurt you-"

"She won't, Sam!" He spun around to face me, and I realized he was taller than me. When did _that_ happen? "You have to trust me." He said slowly. His glowing green eyes stared into my own.

"I do trust you Danny." I nodded, and he smiled a little. "It's Paulina I don't trust."

Danny huffed angrily and turned away again. "If you hate Paulina so much, then maybe you should just leave me - and her - alone."

We were at his front porch, and I felt a raindrop on my cheek. I glanced up at the dark blue clouds in the sky. Damn. And I had to walk home, too.

I shrugged, as if none of this was bothering me and I could care less if our friendship ended (basically, I was acting the opposite of how I felt), and replied coldly, "Maybe I should, I mean, if she's _that_ important to you."

I left the statement open for an apology. I wasn't expecting one, and I wasn't expecting a, "No, she's not that important to me. _You're_ more important to me, Sam." But it would've been very nice to hear.

He nodded, without even that much of a hesitation. That weird feeling was back in my chest again.

"She is."

What, was my heart breaking now? Is that what that feeling was? How cliché.

I shrugged again and took a few steps backwards. "Fine."

He shrugged back. "Fine."

After a moment of staring at him, watching him all safe and dry from the protection of his ghost form, and I felt the rain, which was now coming down pretty hard, soaking through my clothes and hitting my face, I started to walk away. Alone.

Great.

I think I just lost my best friend.

--

**This…is an…experiment, if you will. Please review!**


	2. you and your head games

"So…you and Danny aren't friends anymore?" Tucker asked, freezing with his fork halfway to his mouth, which had meat on it. I grimaced as some beef fell off the fork and onto his tray.

I shrugged, picking at my salad. "Looks like it, doesn't it?"

Tucker glanced behind him, at the Popular Table, where Dash (who was staring at me), Paulina (who was glaring at me), and Danny (who wouldn't even look my way) sat. I was being _tortured_.

Tucker turned back to me and nodded. "Well, we're both screwed then."

I cocked my head. "Why?"

"Because obviously me and Danny aren't friends either." He said simply.

I smiled. That little statement had very much meaning behind it. Or, at least, I think it did. It meant that Tucker was risking his friendship with Danny and potential popularity just to stick with me. What a good friend.

"I mean, the popular people _hate _me. Plus, I feel sorry for you." He smirked at me to let me know that he was kidding.

I grinned and slapped him across the head, knocking his hat off.

--

**confessions of a teenager in denial**

**Chapter 2:**

**you and your head games**

**--**

I had a very strong sense of déjà vu at the moment. I was standing at my locker, staring at the two people who felt like total strangers to me. The popular people. One who had used to be my very best friend and one who I absolutely hated. I sighed and twisted the lock around until my locker popped open, going through the general routine of high school life.

Which sucked beyond belief, by the way.

Suddenly, a shadow fell across me and I didn't even turn around, thinking the person behind me was Tucker. "We're going to have so much fun, just the two of us." I sighed again, feeling more miserable by the second. I froze when I heard an unfamiliar chuckle behind me.

"Is that so?" I felt a large hand on my shoulder. My mouth dropping open, I spun around violently, causing the person behind me to take a step back.

"Dash." I acknowledged him stiffly, on-guard and wary.

He smiled. "Hi, Sam. How are you?"

I frowned harder. "I've been better." I turned back around to my locker and pulled out my Chemistry book. This day was going abso-fucking-lutely _great_.

"So, I was wondering…are you busy this weekend?" Typical question from a typical male. I wasn't busy, but it's not like I would go out with _him_.

I turned around again, my face cold and unwilling. "Yes, I am."

But of course, he didn't flinch, didn't run away, didn't give up. He's been like this for _months_. In November, during football practice, he got tackled pretty hard and ended up passing out with a concussion. When he woke up, in the hospital, with Paulina by his side, he had realized something. That life wasn't about looks and popularity. He had broken up with Paulina, attempted to ditch his popular friends, and disconnected himself from the general population of high school students. Yet, his "friends" and ex-girlfriend still forced him to sit at the Popular Table, in hopes of changing him back. But he hasn't, yet. And I have a feeling he won't ever change back.

And now, for some strange and unknown reason, he likes _me_ now. And he's determined. Very determined.

"Well, maybe after school today?" He was still smiling.

I shook my head, glancing towards the new It Couple. Paulina was flipping her hair in a very Paulina-like fashion, and talking animatedly with the rest of the Populars. Danny didn't look as out of place as he had a few years ago when he had attempted to go popular. He looked uneasy though, and he was glancing around as if he was looking for something…

"Sam?"

I snapped my head back to Dash, "What?"

"Today, after school?"

"Um, no. I'm hanging with Tucker."

Dash nodded, but I could see his eyes darken with anger. Dash _hated_ Tucker, and he hated Danny, too. It was more of a jealousy thing, which was weird and creepy. I suppose he didn't have much of a reason to hate them, it's not like I dated either of them. Though, there _was_ that little feeling I got when I was around Danny-

I glanced towards him again, sad all of a sudden. I was very surprised to see him staring back at me, but something was very, very wrong.

His eyes were green.

--

_Sam,_

_Have you heard anything from Danny today?_

_- Tucker._

I rolled my eyes. Sure, yeah. If you count glances and awkward little bumps in the hallway. I didn't count them, so I figured Tucker wouldn't either. Though there _was_ that incident in the hallway earlier. That was strange…

_Tucker,_

_Nope. Nothing. You?_

_- Sam._

I figured it was best to leave out the incident in the hallway. I could just let it go, but it gave me an uneasy feeling. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. Just keep repeating that in your head, Sam, don't overreact. It doesn't matter anymore, does it? He doesn't want anything to with you, so just _give it up_.

_Sam, _

_I think he tried to talk to me in the hallway earlier, but I just walked away. Is that bad? Should I have let him talk?_

_- Tucker._

_Now_ I felt bad. I felt like I was rolling down a hill, and I was bringing Tucker down with me. And everyone was at the top, laughing and pointing. He didn't have to go down with me. I sighed. Stupid conscience.

_Tucker, _

_You can do what you want, you know. Don't let me stop you._

_- Sam._

There. If Tucker wanted to leave me, he could. Cleared conscience. Yes.

_Sam, _

_Oh, don't be like that. Danny shouldn't have shunned you like that. I'm on YOUR side, okay? Oh, crap. He just wrote me a note. He wants to know if…well, if you brainwashed me into thinking bad things about him. Hm, I don't know, have you?_

_- Tucker._

My jaw dropped. Visibly. I couldn't believe that. Danny was accusing me of _brainwashing_ Tucker?! Oh, it was on now. That boy is going _down_.

_Tucker, _

_I'm going to kick the ghost boy's ass. _

_- Sam._

--

Tucker and I were sitting at The Nasty Burger, only a mere few tables away from the Populars (erm, and Danny) and Dash…well, I have a reason to believe that he's stalking me. If I'm here, he's sitting a few feet away. If me and Tucker are at the park, he's walking his dog. Or if I'm in the girls' bathroom at school after lunch, he just happens to be getting a drink at the fountain.

And I don't believe in coincidences.

I felt trapped, claustrophobic, like I was suffocating. The guy who was "pursuing me" - that's how Tucker put it - and the people who absolutely hated me, and my ex-best friend, all in the same, cramped restaurant.

Can you see my problem, here?

"We need to find a new place to hang out." I muttered, sipping on my diet coke.

Tucker nodded in agreement. "Or, find new people to hang with. You're lover boy is looking lonely. I think he's walking over here DON'T FREAK OUT HE'S ON HIS WAY." Tucker ducked down, leaving me in plain view and oh-so-vulnerable.

I glared at him and hissed, "I hate you! What are you trying to do, encourage him?"

Tucker grinned at me at under his out-of-place looking hat, which I had hit in my fit of anger. I glanced up and saw Dash coming towards us, smiling in his peaceful, annoying way. I groaned and kicked Tucker under the table as Dash looked at us and sat down, without permission. I took a deep breath and readied myself for the chaos and stress that this guy would bring with him.

Seriously, it's either him or Danny. Or Paulina. I'm going to have a heart-attack because of these people.

"Hey, guys." He said calmly, only looking at me. I looked at anything but him, noticing some of the Populars glancing towards and whispering. Great, Dash. Give them _another_ reason to hate me.

"Hey. So, um, Dash. What brings you here?" Tucker asked, sending me a sly smile.

I shot him a glare and continued to look at the reflection of the metal napkin holder, and I could clearly see the table where Danny and Paulina sat. Danny was facing my back, and I could see him glance up now and then to look at our table…

"Not much. I had nothing better to do." Dash shrugged. _Liar!_ I had told him I was hanging with Tucker after school, and we _always_ hang out here after school. From now on, I'm keeping my big mouth shut.

Danny was getting up from the table. He was walking towards our table…I looked around and guessed what he could be doing. The bathrooms where the opposite way, and the exit was to my right. Maybe, just maybe, he was going to talk to us. But too bad, I was angry with him. I slouched in my seat and crossed my arms over my chest and scowled, my traditional look for when I was _not_ happy. Which was the majority of my life, by the way.

Danny walked right past our table without a second glance, and headed towards the counter. Oh. I hadn't thought about that. He must be ordering something. I sighed and glanced towards Dash warily, who was sitting beside me. Yes, beside me. He could've sat beside Tucker, but this is Dash we're talking about. He was _determined_.

I pointedly stared out the window instead of staring at Danny. I was getting a little obsessive about this whole thing. I had to face the fact that my best friend since like, kindergarten ditched me for his flaky popular girlfriend. So, what does that say about the past thirteen years, hm? Has our friendship been a _lie_?

Well, at least I had Tucker. Who was annoying the hell out of me. And hey, let's get _real _optimistic and throw Dash into the bunch, shall we? He's nice enough.

Danny, who was carrying two more sodas - no doubt for him and his girlfriend, I wonder what other "chores" they have him doing, turned from the counter and started to walk to his table. If I had been him - which I'm glad I'm not - I wouldn't have looked away from the destination. I wouldn't have glanced away like he did, and I would have kept my composure.

And it happened, the same thing in the hallway. It happened _again_. As he was walking by us, he quickly glanced towards us, glancing from Tucker from me to Dash, and then it happened. His eyes. They glowed. Green.

I threw him a smirk, letting him know that I KNEW. Well, I didn't _know_, really. I don't know why his eyes were turning green when he looked at me, but I knew the fact that he was a hybrid and none of his fun, shallow, popular friends/girlfriend knew, did they? Could he trust him with that?

No, he couldn't.

And I wondered, just how long, it would take for Danny to crack.

Because how long could he go without his best friends to help him?

--

**I hope this was long enough. Thank you for the reviews! You guys are awesome. **

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**Anyways, give me some love. I adore hearing from you guys. Until next time…**


	3. the most wanted girl in school

"We're the outcasts, you know that?" Tucker observed.

Well, he was right, in a way. The Populars (which included quarterbacks, cheerleaders, team captains, and snobs) , the Nerds, the Stoners, the Super-Jocks, the Nice Kids, and us, the Outcasts. Just the two of us. Used to be three.

I shrugged. I was okay with being the Outcast. I glanced towards the Popular Table. "Hey, why isn't Dash sitting over there?" I pointed. I had a hunch that he would do something crazy, like, oh, I don't know. Sit with us.

Tucker looked behind him, shaking his head. "He's just gone through the lunch line and, oh look. He's coming our way. That boy has spirit, you know that?"

I winced. Tucker was right. "Well, not all of us can be slackers like you, Tucker Foley."

Tucker grinned good-naturedly. "Yeah, and not all of us can be bitter and in-denial, like _you_, Samantha Manson."

--

**confessions of a teenager in denial**

**Chapter 3:**

**the most wanted girl in school**

**--**

Last night, I'd had a strange dream. I don't remember large details, but I remember someone chasing me, trying to kidnap me and then I was in front of an audience where _everyone_ was laughing at me. And then, there were a pair of glowing green eyes, in the distance, and I kept trying to reach for them, trying to chase them, but I just _couldn't_. And then I had woken up.

Screaming.

Maybe I was just very stressed out by the turn of events, I mean, wouldn't you? It was the only plausible reason, because, seriously.

I did _not_ have nightmares. Even when I was younger (read: seven years old) and I had secretly watched a horror movie without my parents' permission with my older cousin, I didn't have nightmares. My cousin did, and she was sixteen at the time. But me? No. I had convinced myself I was _invincible._

Of course, I don't really think that now. I just never thought that the nightmares would start _now_. Maybe every little scary thing from the past few days and even before that would reappear in my dreams I would unwillingly become an insomniac to save my sanity.

Thanks, Danny Fenton. You're the best (ex) friend anyone could ever have.

--

_Sam,_

_Are you okay?_

The note was unsigned. I hadn't even been paying attention when I looked down and saw a tiny folded up piece of paper on my desk, and now I didn't even know who sent it. Casually glancing around the room, I knew it was either from Tucker - he was probably too lazy to sign his name, Danny - but he was mad at me, or Dash - who wanted to be mysterious.

Well, the joke's on him. How am I supposed to reply if I don't know who it's from? I smiled smugly. Stupid boys.

I glanced over my shoulder, and paused when I saw Dash smiling at me. He nodded towards the note and my self-satisfied smile disappeared.

I guess I celebrated too soon.

_Dash,_

_Yeah, I'm fine._

_- Sam._

I knew it was sort of cruel not to reply, so I kept my answer short and sweet. The thing was, Dash sat _right behind_ Danny (and Danny sat beside me - we were in Chemistry…damn) and every time I _moved_ I felt like he was staring at me. And I could _feel_ the tension between Paulina and I…where was Tucker when I needed him? Oh, that's right.

He went to the "bathroom." Probably skipping class.

_Sam, _

_Are you sure? You look a little pale._

_- Dash._

I snorted out loud, catching a few stares from my neighbors and I ducked my head, my face a little pink and smiled. Dash obviously didn't know me. I was always pale. I _strived_ to be pale.

Sighing, I reluctantly wrote him back and tossed him the paper, knowing the teacher never saw because he was half-blind and mostly-stupid. But Danny saw. And he tried to look inconspicuous while glaring at Dash and I but please, Danny's the worst at looking inconspicuous.

_Dash, _

_Um…I'm always pale. Don't worry about it._

_- Sam._

Then I had the most horrifying and miserable realization _ever_.

Danny must think Dash and I were _dating_.

I mean, when I looked at the facts and the evidence, why wouldn't he? He caught me and Dash talking the hallway yesterday, and sitting together at The Nasty Burger after school. And now we were passing notes! Hell, we might as _well_ be going out.

But no. I didn't like Dash that way. And there was virtually no way for me to tell Danny (at least, in a civil manner) that Dash and I weren't in a relationship of any kind.

But then again, it wasn't any of his business. We weren't friends anymore, and he could take his suspicious and glares and stupid glowing green eyes and shove them up his own -

"Samantha Manson!" I jerked my head to the front of the room, where the teacher was yelling at me.

I smiled nervously and shrugged. "Yes?"

The she-man (uni-brow!) glared at me heatedly, "Pay attention."

I nodded, sitting up a little straighter in my seat for show. Once she turned away from me to pick on someone else, I slumped back down and frowned. Stupid teachers.

_Sam, _

_If you say so._

_Oh, and I thought you would like to know that Danny just passed me a note._

_- Dash._

I gaped.

Danny was trying to ruin me, or something.

_Dash,_

_Why? What did he put?!_

_- Sam._

I took a few deep breaths. Please let it be something un-mean, please let it be something un-mean, please let it be -

_Sam,_

_He said, "How are you and your new girlfriend doing?"_

_Is he talking about us? Since when are we dating?_

_- Dash._

I laughed quietly. What could this mean? Was Danny just being an ass or was he…

Jealous?

--

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: that ex-best friend of ours.

Since you OH-SO-THOUGHTFULLY skipped out of class during Chemistry, I have to fill you in on what happened.

Dash wrote me a note (and you know why. Shut up!) and after awhile of some note-passing between me and him, Danny sent Dash a note asking him "how him and his new girlfriend are doing."

He thinks Dash and I are dating!

How ridiculous is _that_?

- Sam.

To: gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: He was a good friend. Clueless, a little lost. But good.

Sorry about that. They came out with that video game this afternoon and I couldn't wait. SKULL CRASHERS 5. I was supposed to skip with Danny today but it looks like he went with the Populars after school instead…

Well, well, well. _Are_ you and Dash dating? Perhaps our little Danny-boy is _jealous_. Of _Dash_.

Even though he's dating Paulina.

Yes, he's definitely lost.

- Tucker.

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: Clueless and lost is right. Good is not.

What, you bailed on me for a _video_ _game_? I'm glad I mean so much to you, Tucker.

No, we're _not_ dating. And I don't _plan_ on dating him. Get that right.

And the jealousy thought crossed my mind, but _why_?

I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND BOYS.

- Sam.

To: gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: You're too young to be bitter.

Yes, I bailed on your for video games. You mean a lot to me, but without video games I would die from being bored all the time.

Oh, and why won't you date him? Because he used to be popular? I think you're being a little…shallow, Sam.

And that's okay. You don't have to understand us.

BECAUSE WE WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND GIRLS, EITHER.

- Tucker.

--

It should've been a normal day. It was a Thursday. Right before Chemistry class. I was at my locker, as usual. Danny was with the Populars and Tucker was nowhere-to-be-found and Dash…well, bothering me.

And then it happened.

I had just twisted the combination and opened my locker up and out fluttered a white piece of paper, landing near my feet. I picked it up and held it near my face in confusion. The lettering was simple yet elegant.

_My Dearest Samantha, _

_You don't know me, but I know you. I have been watching you from afar for quite sometime now. But don't be alarmed - I do not wish to harm you in any way. I'm simply abiding my time, waiting to make the move so I can sweep you off your feet. That time is now, Samantha._

_I cannot tell you my name, but I want you to meet me at the Pier tonight, at seven o'clock. Do not bring anyone with you - this shall be our place. _

_And again, I am not a stalker, and I do not wish to "freak you out." _

_Just trust your instincts. _

_Love, _

_Your Secret Admirer._

I looked around the hallway, having this feeling that it was just a stupid joke played on me by the Populars. But as I looked at them, they weren't laughing or pointing like in my dream. No, they were doing what they were always doing. Laughing, talking, giggling, flipping their hair. Showing off. Being snobby. Whatever.

Frowning, I stared down at the piece of paper in my hand. This couldn't be real. I didn't have a _Secret Admirer_. This was way too creepy, and yes, I _was_ freaked out.

Suddenly, I heard a snort and a scoff, and I glanced behind me. Dash was reading the note over my shoulder. I sighed.

"You have a Secret Admirer?" He asked, disgusted.

I shrugged, giving him a small smile. "Looks like it. But whatever - it's probably fake, or a joke or something." I started to put it in my notebook so I could show Tucker later.

Dash shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I've seen that sort of stationary before…it's real expensive. Why would he spend so much money on a prank?"

My brows furrowed, I inspected the paper, and yes, as I spotted the company's name on the back…it was the most expensive you could buy. I should know. My parents use it.

Maybe it wasn't a prank.

Either way, it was strange. Suddenly, I had _two_ guys pursuing me? What. The. Hell.

--

It was five, and I was at The Nasty Burger with Tucker, again. The Populars were there, but there was no Dash.

Tucker was reading the note from my Secret Admirer, a look of shock and amusement crossing his features as he read. I just sighed, looking at the clock anxiously. I didn't know if I really wanted to go to the Pier. I could get raped/kidnapped/murdered.

But I was _curious_.

Then again, curiosity killed the cat.

But I hate cats.

And now I'm contradicting myself, so I'm going to stop.

Tucker chuckled, looking up at me. "Are you gonna do this?" I shrugged helplessly.

"Personally, I think you should. But it's probably not the smartest idea…" He trailed off.

All of a sudden, an idea struck me. "Hey, you could come with me!"

Tucker shook his head. "SA doesn't want anyone to come with you."

I frowned. "SA? What's that-" Then I shook my head quickly. "Never mind. But listen, you could come with but just hide yourself. Keep an eye out so nothing bad happens. That's the smart thing to do, anyways."

Tucker looked thoughtful. "Okay, I'll go. But I _swear_, Sam, if this creepy SA dude tries to like, kidnap you, or something…I'm calling Danny." He paused at the incredulous look on my face. Then he lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'm serious! With his powers, he can take anyone down!"

I nodded in agreement at that, but reluctantly. Danny's powers had gotten much, much stronger over the past few years. He could take a simple kidnapper down with a flick of his wrist. But yet, he couldn't seem to control his eyes whenever he glared at me or Dash.

See? I will never understand.

Tucker nodded firmly, "Okay, then. Seven o'clock."

I nodded back, forcing myself to smile. "Seven o'clock it is."

--

**This chapter would be **_**so**_** long if I tried to fit the Pier scene here. So, please, bear with me until I get the next chapter out. I'm running two others stories. Please review, you guys are doing great!**


	4. hit, run, shake, and rumble

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 4:**_

_**hit, run, shake, and rumble**_

_**--**_

I was curious, scared, excited, and apprehensive at the same time.

But who could blame me? I was going to meet my "secret admirer" on a Pier all alone (technically; I was hiding Tucker, though) while it was just getting dark.

Some would call it stupid.

I would call it idiotic.

But really, I know I'd totally regret not going. I'd spend the rest of my life wondering who my SA was, and wondering if maybe he was my soul-mate. But I didn't exactly believe in soul-mates. But you catch my drift.

On the outside, I was calm, cool, and collected. I was aloof and standoffish, I didn't care that I could be in possible danger. But on the inside, I was overwhelmed with thoughts and possibilities about what was going to happen in the next hour. I was clutching my Diet Coke in a death grip, causing my knuckles to go white from the pressure. And Tucker saw right through me.

We were about ten minutes away from the Pier when Tucker asked me slyly, "So, what if it's like, the richest person in town?"

I paused, taking a sip from my soda. Looking at him for a moment, I asked, "Tucker, I _am_ the richest person in town." I grinned. Usually I didn't flaunt how rich I was, but this was Tucker, and he was annoying me.

Tucker smacked his forehead. "That's not what I meant, stupid! I _meant_, the _next_ richest person in town who's a guy and has a crush on you."

We continued walking. "Who would that be?" You could say I wasn't all that social. So what?

Tucker sighed. "You really need to get out more." I chucked my mostly-empty bottle at his head, and it bounced off and landed a few feet away. "That one guy! I forget his name…uh…Parker something." He grinned at me, and I sighed, knowing the next thing he said would make me want to hit him. "Parker and Sam…whatever-Parker's-last-name-is. How adorable."

Empty-handed now without my soda, I just punched him in the arm. He held his arm and just kept grinning at me. "You don't even know who it is, so shut up."

We were almost to the Pier now. The sun was setting fairly quickly, and the horizon was painted with nice hues of purple, pink, blue, yellow, and orange. You could see the sunset perfectly from the Pier, and I guessed that's why my SA chose that spot (how romantic…gag). Or maybe he wanted to drown me.

Tucker gasped. "Parker Thompson!"

I jumped and glanced at him. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you!"

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Well, I remembered his name, I was _excited_." We stopped. We were at the Pier, standing behind a small shed that probably had some extra row boats and oars or something. "I'll be right here if you need me!" He flashed me a cheerful smile, obviously recognizing my uneasiness. "You don't have to do this, you know."

I nodded. "I know. And I'm going to do it anyway." I started to walk away.

"Hey," Tucker called me back. "Don't be disappointed if it really was a prank. Or if it's secretly Dash. But my bets are on Parker." He nodded with a small smile.

I just rolled my eyes good-naturedly. "Thanks, Tucker. I'll tell Parker you said hi, if I see him."

And then I walked onto the Pier.

--

I had been standing alone (with Tucker on guard) on the Pier, for, oh, about ten minutes. My "SA" wasn't coming, I knew this. And I was a little disappointed, I had to admit. I was expecting to "find my soul-mate" or "discover true love" on this Pier, but it would've been nice to know that I hadn't just come here to waste my time. The sunset had been nice though. Tucker, Danny, and I had come here a few times after ghost-hunting to watch the sunset, back when we were all friends. This place held a few memories, to be completely honest. It was almost nostalgic.

I turned away from the edge of the Pier, shrugging in Tucker's direction and started to walk away.

Then, I heard someone running. The Pier wasn't in all that good of a shape like it had been years ago, so you could hear someone coming towards you from like a mile away. _Especially_ if they were running. Or if they had boots on.

I turned to my left, squinting towards the figure jogging towards me. The person didn't look familiar, but he/she was almost too far for me to tell yet.

I paused on the Pier, glancing towards Tucker who was also staring at the person who was slowly getting closer and closer to me. And as he progressed, he slowed down a little, panting. I could clearly see that it was a him, and he had short, curly, brown hair. He was tall but not lanky, and yet he wasn't too bulky, like Dash in his football-quarterback hey-days. And as he walked towards me, only about three yards away, he smiled, his perfect white teeth showing. And his eyes? Green. Very, very _pretty _green_. _Sparkling green.

Meet Parker Thompson, ladies and gentlemen.

I just stood there, dumbfounded. _Was_ this some sort of joke?

Parker Thompson was well known, but he wasn't exactly popular. He went to a private academy in Boston and he came home every few months to visit with relatives. His parents were millionaires, but no one knew why. Paulina used to ogle over him last year, whenever the long-distance relationships were "in", or whatever. But she was no match for this Harvard-bound, private-academy-attending rich-guy. He had _high _standards.

And I only knew this because Paulina, Star, and about every girl in Amity Park (except for me, of course!) has tried to date him, and he always says no. There were some rumors about him being gay, asexual, or betrothed. I always assumed (though I never took time out of my day to actually ponder the idea much) that he had a girlfriend in Boston, and he was being faithful, like every guy should be. But it doesn't always end up that way, does it?

Now he was standing directly in front of me, not panting anymore and smiling at me boyishly. And his smile, I discovered, was infectious, so I smiled back, a little shyly.

"Samantha." His voice was deep and youthful at the same time. "I'm Parker Thompson." He stuck his hand out. I shook it, hesitantly, still unsure about this whole thing. He was being sort of polite for being my secret admirer.

"Um…hi. Call me Sam." Parker nodded.

"Will do. So I take it you got my letter?" He smiled at me. God, I really, _really_ did NOT want to use the horrible, dreaded word, but I'm going to…Parker is…cute. There, I said it.

I nodded, a sudden question popping into my mind, "How did you get into my locker? You don't even go to my school…" I was sort of confused.

He shrugged, still smiling cutely (OH LORD, SAVE ME NOW!) at me. "I have my connections."

My eyebrows shot up. "With who? The vice-principal?"

He laughed. He had a nice laugh. "No, not the vice-principal. But that's one of the reasons I like you, Sam. You're funny." He put his hand up to my face and brushed a piece of hair away from my eyes, his finger tapping my temple lightly. I flushed, and he chuckled in return.

I was not to become like a regular teenage girl, love-sick with hearts in my eyes. No. Samantha Manson was not like every regular teenage girl.

I stared at him evenly. "And how exactly do you know me?"

He looked a little surprised by that questions, and I started to doubt this whole situation, once again. And then he smiled. "Just because I have never talked to you, doesn't mean I've never _seen_ you. I went to Casper High for awhile, remember? You're unique and you stuck out in my mind. So I talked to your parents."

My mouth dropped open. "You talked…you talked to my _parents_?! What, am I like, _engaged_ to you now?!" I freaked, to put it in simple terms. My parents were entirely too traditional for their own good and they were _always _trying to marry me off to some rich guy who couldn't care less about me. I hoped this wasn't one of these situations.

Parker immediately shook his head, "No, it's nothing like that!" He put a warm, comforting hand on my shoulder and I forced myself to take deep breaths. "Listen, I just talked to them. They _were_ a little suspicious, but I told them that I only wanted to know about you because I was from the academy in Boston and I was looking for possible transfer students." He shrugged. "I figured you didn't want your parents to know I was your _secret admirer_." He winked at me, and I flushed again, feeling a little embarrassed about the fact that I had just basically flipped out on him.

I smiled a little. "Thanks, for that. I mean, my parents are a little…eccentric. And very insane." He laughed, causing me to smile wider.

Then, I heard it. The crashing noise and a shout. The sound of footsteps on the Pier. Suddenly, I felt strangely cold and I shivered, causing Parker to look at me. "Maybe we should walk to the park to talk some more?" I nodded, glancing back to the shed Tucker was hiding behind. I couldn't even _see_him. I wondered if he was still there.

As we started to walk towards the road, there were suddenly three figures standing in front of me, and I knew I looked like a deer caught in headlights.

In front of me, stood, Tucker, Danny, and Dash.

I hated my life.

Parker looked confused and curious, and he glanced at me. "Did you invite people here?"

I looked at him nervously, hoping he wouldn't get mad. "Well, I told Tucker to come so I wouldn't get kidnapped," I pointed to Tucker. "But it looks like _he_ invited the other two." I spoke through clenched teeth and glared at him.

Tucker shrugged helplessly, "You yelled! I thought he was trying to drag you away, or something."

Okay, that was true. Tucker was just being a good friend. But seriously, _Danny_?

My gaze flickered to the other two and I opened my mouth to speak, but someone beat me to it, "Who are you?" Danny's voice was cold and fierce.

Dash sneered. "This is Sam's _secret admirer_." Tucker glanced at me warily, and I decided against making the "Shoot me now" gesture with my hand, because Parker was staring at me.

"No, this is _Parker Thompson_." I could see Tucker smirking as I enunciated the words. Damn him, for being right about this.

"You have a secret admirer?" Danny's green eyes moved over towards me. I was about to answer, and then I froze. Danny's eyes were green. And not only were his eyes green, but he was in full ghost form. In front of Dash. And in front of Parker.

Parker noticed my open-mouthed staring at Danny, and he glanced towards him, "Oh, Phantom! I've heard many stories about you. This is the first time I've seen you up close." He observed.

Danny just glared at him. Dash cut in, "Yeah, um, what _are_you doing here, exactly?"

I smirked. "Yeah, _Phantom_. What brings you here on a night like this?"

His stare moved from Parker to me, his glare softening as he stared at me. "Sam -"

"Actually, Sam and I were just leaving." I was grateful that Parker cut in. I don't think I could handle a confrontation with Danny in front of Parker and Dash like this. Why was he messing with me head, anyways?

"She's not going anywhere with _you_." Danny said rudely, his glare going up ten-fold.

Dash scoffed. "So what, she's going to go with _you_ then? I don't think so." Oh. My. God. They aren't fighting over me. I'm Samantha Manson.

These kind of situations don't _happen_ to people like me.

"Well, she's certainly not going with you," Danny nodded towards Parker, and then stared at Dash, "_Or_you."

I was starting to get real offended now. I mean, Danny and I _weren't friends anymore_. And he was being immature, and I didn't know if he was jealous or just mad about that fact that I wasn't begging him for forgiveness, but I was getting seriously pissed off.

"Actually, I _am_ going with Parker, and since when are you my boss?" That was a little childish of me, but Danny didn't _own_ me. And then…I brought out the big guns. "Why don't you just go back to your girlfriend, Phantom?" I almost slipped and called him Danny, but I realized that even though he wasn't my friend anymore, I didn't want to ruin him. So I didn't mention his name…or his girlfriend's. "I'm sure she needs you more than I do." I frowned at him and glared, to show him my anger and discomfort towards him.

On impulse, I grabbed Parker's hand and started to walk away, brushing past Tucker and Danny on the way. Suddenly, I was being pulled back, away from Parker, toward a semi-cold body and facing fierce green eyes. Silence fell through the five of us and Parker stared, Dash fumed, and Tucker…well, I think he had a slight heart attack.

"Sam, don't do this."

And my only questions was, _do what_? Ditch him, after he already ditched me? Why shouldn't I move on? I had been Danny's friend forever. And I had…_loved_ him for quite awhile. And it was obvious he didn't return any of these feelings…

And I wasn't a masochist. At least, not anymore.

So I pulled away from him, towards Parker again, and shook my head. I could almost feel the tears in my eyes before they started to fall.

"You're a little late, Phantom. You had your chance."

And I walked away.

--

To:gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: WOW.

Are you okay? That was super intense, on the Pier.

And I'm sorry I called Danny, but actually, he was already nearby. I have a feeling he already knew about the SA thing, anyways.

I didn't think Danny would act like that. I would say I don't know what his problem his…but you know that one saying that goes, "You don't know what you got 'till it's gone?" Well, Danny's got a case of that. And jealousy. And lot of jealousy.

I would talk to him, but after you left he got super pissed and just flew away. And I don't think I need to deal with that…he's got the Populars.

E-mail me back, okay? Dash won't stop bugging me.

How's Parker?

- Tucker.

--

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: Wow is not strong enough.

I'm fine, I guess. Parker took me home. He's pretty understanding about this whole thing. I wouldn't be surprised if he gave up on me…

Well, I certainly didn't count on Danny's showing up, but it's not your fault. You were only looking out for me. Thanks for that, by the way.

I'm sure Danny…well, I don't know. I can't make any more excuses for him anymore. I'm just _so worn out_. I need space!

Tell Dash I'm fine…I just need to sleep.

And when you say, "How's Parker?", you mean, "How are things _going_ with Parker?" And the answer to that is, VERY SLOWLY."

I need a lot of time. Enough said.

- Sam.

--

To: gothgirl16

From: dfentonp

Subject: (none)

I need to talk to you.

And I don't know what the deal was earlier tonight…and I don't now who the hell that Parker guy was, but I didn't mean to offend you.

I just need to talk to you, _alone_.

- Danny.

--

To: dfentonp

From: gothgirl16

Subject: NONE MY ASS.

You're lucky I'll even e-mail you back, man.

I don't want to talk to you. And Parker is my…friend. But it's not like I need to explain anything to _you_. You're not my friend anymore, Danny.

You told me to leave you and Paulina alone.

Wish granted.

-Sam.

--

I could feel Danny's stare on me during class, in the hallway, at lunch. He wouldn't leave me alone. He would write a note to me, and I would rip it up and throw it away after class. He would attempt to corner me in the hall, and I would sneak away to the bathroom.

I was being a little harsh, but I was serious in my e-mail. I took his words to heart that night in front of his house in the rain.

He chose Paulina over me.

And I could _accept_ that, with time, but I _could not_ accept him still dating Paulina and tormenting me with these STUPID games and crazy schemes. I was done. Officially, completely _done._

Parker was nicer, when I talked to him. He just brushed off the whole Phantom/Danny/Dash/Pier incident, thankfully. He sometimes joined Tucker and I after school at The Nasty Burger, and on some days he took me home from school, since he was in town and had no school work of his own. He was easy to talk to, and I could definitely tell he liked me.

Was I attracted to him? Yes. Would I date him? It's a possibility…but I still needed time. And the best thing about that? Parker understood.

And so, I was just walking through the main hall during lunch to the bathroom, wary of the halls because I hadn't seen Danny in the cafeteria when I had left. Unless he was doing some ghost-hunting, he was probably around the area I was in.

I rounded the corner, only a few yards away from my destination and there he was, sitting against a set of lockers, eyes closed and breathing ragged and uneven. He didn't look well, and I wanted to run away and help him at the same time. "Danny?"

His eyes opened, but they were half-lidded and glazed over. He was sick. "Sam?"

I nodded, kneeling beside him. "Are you…okay?"

He shook his head, not even trying to hide it. His hazy gaze flickered to me before shutting altogether, "I'm sorry."

And then he passed out.

I sighed. I wasn't even his friend anymore, and I was still responsible for him.

--

**I hope this satisfies you all! Parker's a God. I should know, I made him up. And I just LOVE writing for this story, even when I should be focusing on my other stories. You lucky ducks.**

**REVIEW. **


	5. you want me to want you, i want to

"Sam, you do realize that the Populars took our table, right?" I was just standing there, tray in hand, staring at our table. And Tucker was right. The Populars had taken The Outcasts' table, and now, I was _pissed_.

I took a deep breath. Now where would we sit? Suddenly, Dash was beside me. "Our table is taken."

I smiled humorlessly. "I _know_, Dash."

He nodded, looking a little queasy at the anger on my face. "So, what now?"

I looked around the cafeteria. Everyone _else_ were at their usual tables, so why couldn't we sit at ours? "It looks like we have to take The Popular Table. As much as I _don't_ want to sit where they have sat, we don't have much of a choice." I sighed.

Tucker nodded, and we made our way over to that table, sitting down gingerly. "Sam," Tucker hissed at me.

"What?"

"Um…everyone's staring at us." I turned around, and yet again, Tucker was right. Everyone, and I mean _everyone_ was staring at us; the Populars, the Nice Kids, the Stoners, the Nerds, the Super-Jocks, etc.

Dash turned to us and grinned. "It looks like we're the popular ones now!" He exclaimed, and he said it _loudly_, loud enough for everyone to hear. He started laughing, and then eventually Tucker and I joined in.

And so did everyone else, except for…The Populars.

**--**

**confessions of a teenager in denial**

**Chapter Five:**

**you want me to want you (i want to)**

**--**

I had a _right_ to be mad. Basically, Danny had told me to get out of his life, which was obviously great…I mean, he was dating the most popular girl in school, hanging with the in-crowd, and he had awesome-amazing powers he could control and use at will. What would he want with me, anyways? Tucker and I probably meant _nothing_ to him.

And no, I couldn't explain why he had apologized. Tucker was probably right, he was jealous, and maybe he was finally realizing that he couldn't have everything.

And now, I suppose that Danny was being given an ultimatum; Tucker and I (and no popularity), or Paulina and the rest of the Populars.

I felt like I didn't know Danny anymore, so I didn't know _what_ he would choose. I suppose if I was just like everyone else, seeking popularity and to be accepted by my peers, I would be exactly like Danny, and probably choose the Populars. But I'm not like everyone else, and that's why everyone seems to hate me.

I took Danny home, getting excused by the nurse who felt sorry for us both and told his parents that he had a bad case of the stomach-flu and he should be fine. If I had absolutely no compassion in my heart, I would've left Danny sitting there in the hallway, sick and helpless. But ex-friend or not, I wasn't about to do that to him. Just like I wasn't going to tell the whole entire world that he was Phantom, too.

I don't think Danny realizes how good he has it, sometimes. I would love to have a family like his, no matter how insane or annoying they may be. At least they pay _attention_ to him. And he has - well, _had_ - great friends, Tucker and I. We had always been there for him, hadn't we? The only reason Danny had crossed me out of his life is because I was telling him the _truth_, and he didn't want to hear it.

Well, it was his loss. Friendships didn't last forever, but I thought that Danny would've been different. I left Danny on his bed, still passed out, and I walked backwards to his door, staring at him sadly.

It was time to let go.

--

To: gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: WHERE ARE YOU?

Please, e-mail me back before I have to file a missing-persons report. Danny's not here either, did something happen?

And don't tell me I'm freaking out over nothing, because if you just skipped class and Danny is gone out of pure coincidence, I'm going to be mad.

If you don't e-mail me back within the hour, I'm making posters.

- Tucker.

--

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: Calm down, you spaz.

I'm fine.

After lunch, when I went to the bathroom, I found Danny in the hallway. He's sick. I took him home (SHUT UP!) and when I was walking home (yes, I skipped class!), Parker picked me up and we rode around for awhile.

And…Parker kissed me.

Yeah.

I'm a little confused at the moment.

BUT I'M FINE. DON'T MAKE THE POSTERS!

- Sam.

--

To: gothgirl16

From: dfentonp

Subject: (none)

Thank you for taking me home earlier today. You didn't have to do that. I know you're still mad at me…

And speaking of that, I _said _was sorry. What more do you want me to do? I'll say it again if you like…I'm sorry.

Oh, and _before_ you suggest me breaking up with Paulina, it's not going to happen.

- Danny.

--

To: dfentonp

From: gothgirl16

Subject: (none)

Well…you're welcome. Sorry, but I'm not the kind of person to leave sick and helpless people to fend for themselves. Unless it's Paulina.

What more do I want you to do?

Nothing, Danny. You said you were sorry, and that's great. And I can't make you break up with Paulina.

But I can't be friends with you anymore. I'm not sure if things will ever be the same…and I can't fully forgive you.

_Sorry_. (yes, that was me, mocking you. TAKE THAT!)

- Sam.

--

To: gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: I think you made Danny cry.

Seriously. He keeps e-mailing me, asking me what he can do to make things better with us again. What did you_ say_ to him, you heart-breaker?!

Oh well. Doesn't matter. I just told him to have fun with the Populars and send me a postcard from Paradise. Nice, huh?

So…you and Parker are working out, right? You need a boyfriend.

And I need a girlfriend. Which means…I'm going to ask out Valerie tomorrow. I've been planning this out for awhile now…THEN WE CAN DOUBLE. AND PARKER CAN PAY, BECAUSE HE'S LOADED.

Sound like a plan?

- Tucker.

--

I had a boyfriend. Me, _Samantha Manson_, had a _boyfriend_. And yes, it's Parker.

Are you wondering how this all happened? Well, here's the story:

After I had left Danny's house, near-tears from my own angst, Parker had pulled up beside me in his shiny BMW, with his understanding, _cute_ smile and said, "Get in, I'll give you a ride home."

And I did. I have to admit, I _like_ Parker. He's nice, handsome, understanding, funny, smart, and did I say very-handsome? It's like he's completely and totally at ease with me, which makes me feel better around him. You could say he's different than other guys, because he doesn't just care about football or beer-parties or stuff like that, he's _intellectual_ and _witty_.

And I sound dumb right now. But it's true, it's so true.

He took me home, and didn't gape or stare at my too-big house, like Tucker always does (even though he's been there about a million times). He walked me to my door, and we stood on my porch for awhile, just talking and laughing. He had a good way of making me feel better, especially after I told him what had happened between me and Danny earlier.

Then, after a small, comfortable silence and I said I was going to go in, he tugged on my hand to stop me and stared into my eyes for a moment, before leaning in…

And yeah, he kissed me. He's a very good kisser. Technically, it wasn't my first kiss, because I've kissed Dash before (but I hadn't wanted to! Plus, he had been Popular back then), and I've had a few fakeout-makeouts with Danny before. But this was real.

And Parker was here for me.

After he kissed me, he whispered in my ear, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

And I could only nod, a smile on my face, because I was completely speechless. He had just grinned and kissed me again…and again…and well, again.

I felt a little guilty, because deep, deep down, I still had feelings for Danny. Feelings that would hopefully go away in time, because they weren't reciprocated, and I couldn't handle that anymore. Maybe dating Parker would change things. In a way, I felt like I was Dash, and this whole thing was a cycle;

Danny was dating Paulina, and I loved Danny (but not for long, I hope!). Dash loves _me_, but I'm dating _Parker_, and Parker likes me, but I love Danny (but I still like Parker), who's…dating Paulina.

See? Nasty, evil cycle. I feel like I'm in the middle, and the person who gets the bad end of the deal? Dash. Or, Paulina, if I get a say in it.

Which makes me wonder, why is Paulina going out with Danny in the first place?

And how did that even _happen_?

--

It had been a week. Meaning that Parker and I had been dating for a week, Danny and Paulina had been dating for almost two weeks, Valerie had turned down Tucker about 75 times, and Dash was still following me around like a lost puppy, despite that fact that I had a boyfriend.

And Danny knew this. At least, I think so.

Parker picked me up from school (and sometimes Tucker, too) and if the three of us weren't hanging at The Nasty Burger, where the Populars would unmercifully stare at us, Parker and I were at the Pier, watching the sunset and trying to wish away the fact that Parker has to leave in a month to go back to Boston.

I did wonder what would happen to us after he went back to school…but I tried not to dwell on it too much. I was pretty sure Parker wasn't just looking for a fling or short hook-up with me, he wanted to try a long-distance relationship, which was fine by me. I didn't have any intention with breaking up with him.

Again, I _liked_ Parker. But I didn't love him. I didn't know if he loved me, because he hadn't dropped the L-Bomb or anything. Maybe, with time and some healing, I could start to.

Danny wouldn't give up, either. He sent me e-mails, apologizing but refusing to break-up with Paulina. I sent some back, but eventually I just started to ignore him. I started to wonder if maybe I was being childish and immature, but then I thought back to the day we had stopped being friends, when I had been trying to _help _him and he had pushed me out of his life.

If I ever started to doubt my stand against Danny and the Populars, I thought back to the fact that Danny had _chosen Paulina over me. _And how he told me that YES, PAULINA IS THAT IMPORTANT TO ME, SAM.

And then, I would feel hurt all over again, and I knew that I couldn't repair things with him. It hurt way too much.

Now, I was sitting in Chemistry, with the three other major opponents in The Cycle; Danny, Dash, Paulina. So, _so_ fun.

_Sam, _

_Come to my locker after school. I need to talk to you._

_- Danny._

I shook my head. He was going to be the death of me one day, I swear to it.

_Danny, _

_No thanks. I'd rather not._

_- Sam._

I could see his frustrated look and he started doing things with more anger and haste, almost in a clumsy way. Good. He could mad all he wants. It didn't matter to me.

_Sam, _

_Why are you being so stubborn?! I just want to talk to you!_

He was so mad he didn't even sign his name. I could see Paulina, in front of me, pretending she was putting her hair up so she could read the note. I didn't even try to hide it, but I could see the slightly panicked look on Danny's face.

_Danny, _

_Tell me this, Danny; if you enjoy being with Paulina, and if she's so damn important to you, then why do you insist on trying to be friends with me again, when YOU WERE THE ONE WHO BUTTED ME OUT OF YOUR LIFE IN THE FIRST PLACE? _

_Tell me that, because I would REALLY love to know. _

_In all honesty, I don't want to talk to you. I don't want you to e-mail me, I don't want you to write me notes, and I just want you to leave me alone. You just don't understand how I felt when you said those things to me, Danny, you really don't. _

_If you wanted to talk to me, you wouldn't thought twice before making me your ex-friend instead of keeping me as your best friend. But it's too late for that, isn't it?_

_I'm willing to move on. Why won't you? _

_- Sam._

I felt like crying. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched all the expressions flicker across his face as he read my note. Anger, hurt, sadness, and finally, understanding. He crumpled the note up in his hand, his fist tight and his eyes cold. They were glowing green, and he determinedly stared at the front of the classroom.

I hadn't planned for that to be the last time I had true contact with Danny.

But it was.

--

**This chapter was sad, I know. I believe it was a little shorter, too, I'm sorry. **

**Please review!**

**Note: the chapter title is a line in a song…can anyone guess which one? COOKIES FOR YOU IF YOU GET IT!**


	6. of penpals, messages, and betrayal

"Dash, why do you like me?" I asked, spinning my fork around in my spaghetti.

Dash sputtered for a moment, his face turning red. He must think that I don't realize his feelings for me. Oops. Dash sighed, turning his head away from me, and after a moment, he spoke quietly, "Well, you're unique. You're not like all the other girls I know…you're smart, funny, and pretty, and…perfect." He looked at me then, his eyes a little sad.

I smiled, knowing that we probably wouldn't (or couldn't?) ever happen, but Dash was nice, and he didn't deserve me, no matter how "perfect" he thought I was.

"Thanks, Dash. It means a lot to me." And it did, but I didn't know why. He smiled back at me, returning to his lunch.

At least he wasn't afraid to admit his feelings for someone. No matter what the consequences.

_--_

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 6:**_

_**of pen-pals, messages, and betrayal**_

_**--**_

_Gothgirl16 has signed in at 9:48 p.m._

Foleyman: Sam!

Gothgirl16: Um…Tucker!

Foleyman: What did you say to Danny yesterday?

Gothgirl16: What ever do you mean?

Foleyman: Don't play dumb with me.

Gothgirl16: Maybe I'm not playing.

Foleyman: Seriously, Sam! He's all…depressed-ish.

Gothgirl16: Well…basically, I asked him why he wanted to be friends with me if he wanted to stay with Paulina so badly and he was the one who had butted ME out of HIS life, and that I never wanted to talk to/e-mail/write to him again because I was hurt and that it was too late to save our friendship and that I'M willing to move on, and why can't he?

Foleyman: …wow. You told him that.

Gothgirl16: I can't make that up.

Foleyman: Well, my condolences. Sorry.

Gothgirl16: Thanks. It's okay.

Foleyman: So, how are you and Parker?

Gothgirl16: Pretty good. He's leaving in two weeks.

Foleyman: I heard. So…are you guys going to just break it off or stay together?

Gothgirl16: I'm not exactly sure yet. I know he wants to stay together…but I don't love him, Tucker. I still have that _problem_, unfortunately.

Foleyman: Problem? What problem?

Gothgirl16: You _know_ what I'm talking about.

Foleyman: Enlighten me, please.

Gothgirl16: I'm rolling my eyes at you, right at this moment.

Foleyman: Nice to know. I'm still in the dark, though.

Gothgirl16: UGH. I'M STILL IN LOVE WITH DANNY, OKAY? (I hate you).

Foleyman: Oh, _that_ problem!

Gothgirl16: No shit, Sherlock. Oh, crap. I hear my mom. I got to go, talk to you tomorrow!

Foleyman: Okay, bye.

_Gothgirl16 has signed out at 10:06 p.m._

Foleyman: …you there, Danny?

Dfentonp: I'm here.

Foleyman: I feel horrible, you know, playing Sam like that. I'm supposed to be on HER side. I just felt sorry for you.

Dfentonp: I know, Tucker. Thanks. But…she really feels that way?

Foleyman: Uh, newsflash, Phantom dude: Sam Manson has loved you for years. You've just been too clueless to see it. And now…you have Paulina. YOU'RE SCREWED.

Dfentonp: I'm not clueless! I just…don't take well to subtlety. And…dating Paulina isn't as great as I thought it would be.

Foleyman: Wow. I never would've guessed. What are you going to do now, go to Disneyland?

Dfentonp: You know, I haven't missed you at all.

Foleyman: That hurts, man. That hurts _deep_.

Dfentonp: Sure, yeah. What am I going to do now?

Foleyman: Let me make this more clear, oh-clueless-one; YOU'RE SCREWED. Sam's as stubborn as a bull…and she's dating Parker. You can't just go back in time…shit.

Dfentonp: CLOCKWORK.

Foleyman: Don't do it man, it's a bad idea. Clockwork won't do it. He don't take no CRAP.

Dfentonp: Shut it, Tucker.

Foleyman: No! Listen, you're going to have to do this on your own. Don't ask Clockwork to help you with something that you could've prevented. _You_ picked Paulina, _you_ hurt Sam. Take the blame.

Dfentonp: …when did you get so wise?

Foleyman: When I stopped hanging out with you, duh.

Dfentonp: Thanks. That hurts, that hurts -

Foleyman: Don't copy me.

Dfentonp: Sorry.

Foleyman: Anyway, I got to go. No late-night visits in the ghost-world…especially without your support system, okay?

Dfentonp: Alright. But I've gotten this far without you guys…

Foleyman: Sure. Right. Bye, Danny.

Dfentonp: Bye, Tucker.

_Foleyman has signed out at 10:23 p.m._

_Dfentonp has signed out at 10:23 p.m._

_--_

To: gothgirl16

From: dfentonp

Subject: (none)

Sam, hear me out.

I _know_ you don't want to talk to me, or hear from me, but please, I just want one more chance. I know I've been acting like a jerk lately, but…I have my reasons.

I didn't mean to hurt you, and I'm sorry.

But you know, I'd much rather tell you this (again) in person…please?

- Danny.

--

"And today, we starting an important project, which will not only be a good sixty percent of your grade, but it should be an enjoyable and eye-opening experience." Mr. Hoffman, my Creative Writing teacher, said in his happy-go-lucky, cheerful voice. I sighed, which fell deaf on Mr. H's unwilling ears, as well as the rest of the groans and whines of the rest of the class.

I don't even know why I had taken Creative Writing. The only classes that were required were math, English, science, gym, a foreign language class, and history. After that, I could choose from Band/Chorus (yuck), Study Hall (check), Home economics (no thanks), Agriculture (er…NO), and Creative Writing.

You can see my problem.

So, basically my schedule went; English 3, Gym, French 2, Chemistry, Lunch, World History, Study Hall, Biology 2, and Creative Writing.

I hate school.

I also had this class with Tucker and Danny, because we had tried to co-co0rdinate our classes so we could be together. That ended well; except the fact I wasn't speaking to Danny and it was really, really awkward.

And now, Mr. H had given us this stupid assignment…wait, what was it? "Basically, it's like you get a pen-pal, except in this room. You write back and forth, but you keep your identity a secret with your pen-pal until the assignment is over. When it's done, you will have to write a paper about your pen-pal, discussing some likes, dislikes, personality traits. Be creative."

"Be Creative." Was Mr. H's motto for life, pretty much. I thought it was funny, because he teaches Creative Writing, and at the beginning of the year, I thought he was just trying to be funny. But now I know that he's serious about it…and that makes it even funnier.

I frowned at the assignment. I don't need any more surprises, no more stress, no awkward-ness, NOTHING. I just want a little calm and peacefulness in my life, thank you very much.

Do I ever get what I want? Not really.

"So for right now, I want you to write a letter - short, long, whatever you like - to your pen-pal. I will be assigning your pen-pals, so just write something about yourself. You have…fifteen minutes."

I wasn't bad at writing, at least, I liked to think I wasn't. I mean, I had an A minus in this class, and it wasn't as easy as people thought it was. So I figured I could slide through this assignment without much emotion or problems.

_Dear__…pen-pal person, _

_Hey, how are you? This assignment feels pretty lame to me…but I guess we can't avoid it, can we?_

_I feel sort of strange, writing this. Because I know who _I_ am, but you don't know who I am and I don't know who you are but YOU know who you are…_

_That doesn't make sense, does it? I guess I'm kind of rambling because I'm stressed out. My (ex)-friend bugs me and I'm in love with someone who isn't my boyfriend and MY LIFE IS CONFUSING._

_Anyways, tell me about yourself, will you? I'm intrigued, oh-mystery-man/woman. _

_Wait, do you mind if I ramble to you? _

_Because if you don't, then SCORE._

_(I need a nickname…want to pick one out for me?)_

_- YOUR PEN-PAL._

Total win, right there. For some reason this assignment is totally making me feel more light-hearted and cheerful, which was strange because the words _happy_ and _school assignment_ really shouldn't go together. Really.

I hope I get a guy as a pen-pal. I don't like girls and the drama they bring. Unless it's Valerie, because she's not as stuck-up or as dramatic as Paulina (RAGING BITCH) or Star (PARTNER-IN-CRIME). Damn them.

Which makes me wonder back to Danny's e-mail to me last night, and if he was re-thinking his whole position with Paulina. Maybe he was _finally_ realizing that Paulina was up to no good and he should break up with her, pronto.

Then, I smiled a little to myself and shook my head.

No. That was completely ridiculous.

--

_Dear Pink (you wanted a nickname…I just picked a random color), _

_Hey…I'm fine. I also think this assignment is lame…but I don't want to fail, so I HAVE to do it._

_I got it just fine; I know who I am, you know who you are, but we don't know each other._

_Am I right, or am I right?_

_And sorry about all the crap going on in your life. I have some problems myself, but I'm not really a person to rant on about them to unknown pen-pals. But feel free to rant to me, if you want. I don't mind._

_And since I pretty much know that you're a girl, because you said you had a boyfriend (but, I guess you COULD be a guy…), and I'll let you know that I'm a guy. It's like a fair trade…now, quick! Tell me your favorite color so I can tell you mine!_

_You can choose a nickname for me, too. I don't want to feel left out._

_- Your Pen-Pal._

_--_

It had been two days since we were assigned the pen-pal project, and I was officially Pink, and he was officially Purple. I told him I _hated_ Pink, so in return I would give him a girly color, just to torment him. I do believe that we hit it off right away, and he let me rant and ramble to him about Danny, Dash, Parker and love and the future (without mentioning names or places, just to be safe), without any complaints.

I don't know who he was, and truthfully, I didn't care. It was he like he was my own personal journal or something.

And speaking of journals, Mr. H had given us this project after Christmas break where we have to "express our feelings and emotions" through an "expressive and private journal." And it wasn't even that private, because he _read_ it. And sometimes he put comments, too.

What if someone had put that they wanted to kill themselves, what would he do then? Not everyone knows he reads _every single journal_. But of course, I know, because I'm just that good.

Later that night, I got online and talked to Tucker.

_Gothgirl16 has signed on at 8:16 p.m._

Gothgirl16: Hey.

Foleyman: Oh…hey. What's up?

Gothgirl16: You act surprised that I'm on. Not much.

Foleyman: No, I'm not. I'm playing a video game. How's Parker?

Gothgirl16: Oh, sounds fun. He's fine. Why do you always ask that? You can talk to him yourself, you know.

Foleyman: Not really, since you two are always macking on each other in front of me.

Gothgirl16: Oh, PLEASE. We are not always _macking_ on each -

Dfentonp: Hey, Tucker, I'm back -

Gothgirl16: …Danny? Wait, what's going on here?

Foleyman: Oh shit.

Dfentonp: Sam? When did you get online?

Foleyman: Now, Sam, don't get mad -

Gothgirl16: I can't believe you.

_Gothgirl16 has signed out at 8:25 p.m._

Foleyman: …look, we're back where we've started. You couldn't look at the screen before typing?

Dfentonp: Well, SORRY. I didn't expect her to sign on!

Foleyman: Well, I didn't either!

_Foleyman_ _has signed out at 8:27 p.m._

Dfentonp: Great. Now I'm all alone.

--

I couldn't believe this. Tucker had _betrayed_ me. He was on Danny's side now. Who did I have now? Parker, but he was leaving in a week and a half, and who knows if we even stay together?

But after that, what do I have? Danny was with the Populars, and Tucker was with Danny, Parker was going to Boston, my pen-pal was…well, I don't even _know_ who he is. And then, there was…

Dash.

I smacked my forehead, slumping down in my computer chair and groaning loudly.

I was screwed.

--

**The song from last chapter's title? It's not "I Want You To Want Me" by Cheap Trick (but that's a good guess!), it's "Three Cheers for Five Years" by Mayday Parade. The line is near the end of the song, if you want to look it up.**

**Thanks for all the kind reviews. Keep reviewing!**


	7. you are so morally screwed up

"So, um…Tucker's not sitting with us today?" Dash asked as I plopped down not very gracefully across from him, an angry look on my face.

I shook my head. "Nope, he screwed up."

He still looked confused. "What did he do?"

I sighed. "Nothing. Let's just say he's not in a much higher regard than I hold Danny," I stated bitterly, glancing towards the Popular Table and to the Nerds, where Tucker was sitting, looking miserable.

"You're one mean person, Sam." But Dash was smiling, so I knew not to take it too seriously.

But I did anyways. I looked down at my lunch tray sadly. "I know."

_**--**_

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 7:**_

_**you are so morally screwed up**_

**--**

_Dear Pink, _

_You do realize we meet in two weeks, don't you? Are you ready?_

_I think I might have a feeling about who you are, but I'm not going to say what I think. I know you'll probably get frustrated with me, but too bad!_

_Okay, let me get this straight: Your two best friends betrayed you, and you're boyfriend is going away. And now you have…no one?_

_Well, you have me, if that helps. _

_- Purple (I really do hate that name)._

--

Yes, my pen-pal was right.

Two days ago, when I found out Tucker had secretly been helping Danny behind my back, I had completely broken down. I completely crossed Danny _and_ Tucker from my life, sitting only by myself or with Dash at lunch and hanging only with Parker after school.

I felt like I couldn't trust _anyone_. I don't know how long Tucker had been helping Danny. I don't know what he told him. I don't _know_ what would happen after Parker left for school, leaving me to sit alone and helpless until I graduated high school.

My parents weren't exactly the kind of people I could talk to, either. The only time I ever really saw them were the rare occasions when we ate together for dinner. But that was only when they weren't in London or Paris, on second honey-moons and spending their money on things nobody ever needed.

And those rare dinners we had together? We had one tonight. _Just_ what I needed.

I dragged my feet and stomped miserably as I could without making it completely obvious that I hated my life. My mother was sitting in her usual seat, a serene smile on her face. She had waited until I had came down so we could actually start eating together. How kind of her.

I plopped down across from her, looking around. "Where's dad?" I asked, while I served myself some salad.

With the same smile on her face, she unfolded her napkin delicately on her lap. "He has some work to do. He's in his office." She informed me quietly.

I nodded, setting down the salad bowl and noticing another dish that didn't look familiar. I pointed to it, a confused look on my face, "What's that?"

My mother glanced up, looking where I was pointing and smiled. "Well, I know that you're a vegetarian, so I had the cooks make that vegetarian casserole I know you love."

I was a little shocked. Since when did my mother acknowledge or even care about the fact that I'm a vegetarian? This is was strange.

"Well…thanks." I smiled weakly. I barely knew how to react; my mother and I just didn't get along this well.

"No problem. So…someone came by today." She said casually, spooning some of the vegetarian casserole onto her own place, wrinkling her nose a tiny bit. It was still progress.

"Who?" I hoped, _prayed_ that it wasn't…

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, that one boy you're always hanging around with. What's his name? Tyler? Thomas? Timothy?" Then she shrugged, giving up. I didn't correct her. "Well, he came by and was looking for you, but I told him you were busy. I thought you two didn't hang out anymore, so I sent him away."

Again, I was in shock. Before, it was like my mom never even noticed me. She knew Tucker and Danny, but other than knowing that I hung out with them (she didn't even know their names), she didn't really care.

So how did she know I wasn't talking to either of them?

I looked down, deciding to let it go. It wouldn't hurt for her to act like a regular mom, and I shouldn't even be questioning her behavior.

I looked up at her, and stared at her as she ate. Maybe she cared more than she let on.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

She glanced at me, smiling, and taking a sip of water.

"Your welcome, Sam."

--

To:gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: You're as stubborn as a bull.

Seriously! I came by yesterday, but your mom said you were busy, and I _know_ that's a lie. And I don't blame you for being mad at me, but you _have_ to hear me out.

I was only helping Danny because he was really desperate and you're really stubborn. And I know I shouldn't have betrayed you, it was my fault, and I'm _sorry_.

Oh God, am I sounding like Danny? Please, shoot me now.

- Tucker.

--

To: gothgirl16

From: dfentonp

Subject: (none)

Don't be mad at Tucker. I asked him to help me, and I'm not blaming you or anything…

But don't you sort of feel like we're going through a divorce, and Tucker's the kid who has no say in anything and is pushed and pulled in every direction?

Is that really fair to him?

- Danny.

--

I really hated to admit it, but Danny was completely right. Tucker shouldn't have to choose, he had nothing to do with the fact that Danny and I weren't friends anymore. What right did I have to be mad at him, when he was just living his life?

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: Not anymore, I'm not!

Okay, Danny e-mailed me (but I did _not_ e-mail back) and said something that made me realize that I shouldn't be mad at you. You can talk to/help/hang out with Danny as much as you want, I don't control you. Though I _am_ a controlling person. Sorry.

So, friends again?

…you _did_ sound a little like Danny then, yes. But that's okay.

And no, I will not be friends with Danny again.

- Sam.

--

To: gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: I'm really glad.

Wow, this was Danny's doing? That's new. And you don't have to apologize, because you're going to _kill_ me after you hear this…

I told Danny that you loved him.

PLEASE, I'M SORRY.

- Tucker.

--

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: (none)

You better register yourself under the witness protection program, or something.

Because you're _dead_ when I get my hands on you.

- Sam.

--

I was mortified. This whole time, Danny had known that I loved him? Well, _love_. My feelings hadn't changed. Parker is a great guy, and he's like completely perfect.

But is he perfect for _me_? I don't think so.

And was Danny perfect for me? I didn't know. But I could find out.

With that single thought, I scooted away from my computer and ran out of my room, down the stairs, and into the hallway, where I ran into my parents, who were also getting ready to leave. It was almost completely dark outside.

"Where are you going?" I asked breathlessly.

"To a musical downtown at that new theatre that opened last weekend," My dad replied, helping my mom put her jacket on.

I nodded. "Um, I'm…going to Danny's." Lying probably wouldn't be the best idea right now.

My parents shared a look, one that I didn't understand, but I wasn't in my right mind, so I couldn't be angry at them. I was only focused on finding Danny.

Then, my mother nodded and smiled. "Don't be gone too late."

They were accepting this, all of this, very well. This never happened. _Ever_.

I didn't believe in a lot of things, like coincidences.

But I _did_ believe in fate.

--

I was being the biggest loser, _ever_. A coward.

But I couldn't _help_ it. Paulina was at Danny's house (and his parents weren't home!) and I could hear them yelling. And not the good kind of yelling. Like they were _fighting_.

I felt like a horrible person, feeling happy about the fact that they were fighting and it was possible they were going to break up. Danny deserved to be happy, and if he could achieve happiness by being with Paulina, then that's just great. _I_ may not be happy about it, but what does that matter? I wasn't a selfish person.

Okay, I was sometimes. But whatever.

I was hiding beside the porch, behind the protection of the large bushes beside it. That way Paulina wouldn't see me and I wouldn't get Danny in even _more_ trouble.

I didn't know what I was even here for. He already knew that I loved him, what else was I going to say?

I was broken out of my reverie by the slamming door, and the stomping on the porch's steps as Paulina ran towards her car. Suddenly, she turned around as she was opening the door, and yelled back, "We are _over_, Danny Fenton!"

Yep, they were over. This was my chance.

I heard a tired sigh, and glanced up to see Danny standing in his doorway, looking worn out. Great, now I was feeling sorry for him? Whatever happened to being mad at him, anyways?

I stepped out of the bushes just as Paulina's pretty, expensive car rounded the corner, screeching brakes and all. I brushed off my black skirt and looked up at Danny, who had a shocked expression on his face. I couldn't blame him.

"So, you two are over," I observed casually. "Sorry, I was kind of eavesdropping. You don't mind do you?"

Danny shook his head wordlessly, his eyes wide and his mouth open. I winced.

"Is it really that bad? Have I been that horrible? You know, most of this is you're fault, anyways. Don't be so shocked to see me, and close your mouth." I stated, my voice starting out sad and ending in a know-it-all tone. I put my hands on my hips and stared at him until he reacted.

And he did. Slowly, a smile spread across his face, and he walked down the steps of his porch, his smile turning a little smug. I frowned. "I missed you." His face turned serious, not stopping until he was standing right in front of me.

With furrowed brows, I replied, "Well, don't expect that just because I'm talking to you, that means we're best friends again. Because we're not. And this has nothing to do with Paulina." I grumbled.

He nodded. "I know. But I'm glad you're talking to me again." I shrugged, as he smiled at me, and then I realized something.

Of all the times I had seen Danny with Paulina, I had never seen him like I was seeing him right now. His blue eyes shining and a smile on his face. Sure, he looked just fine in the beginning, but as time went on, he seemed to look more tired and unhappier every day. I figured maintaining such a high status and trying to stay popular each and every day took a lot out of you. Maybe being with Paulina wasn't as cracked up as he thought it would be.

I nodded. "Me too." I admitted quietly, looking down. Then, I remembered why I was there, and I looked up and said, "So…um, did Tucker tell you something about me the other day?" I asked, fidgeting a little. This was harder than I thought it would be.

He looked confused, a look that I knew all too well. "What do you mean?"

I sighed, feeling even _more_ nervous. "You know. Don't make me say it, please."

But he _still_ looked dumbfounded. "Sam, I don't know what you're -"

"He told you that I loved you!" I blurted out, and then I quickly slapped my hand to my mouth, my eyes almost bulging out of my head.

Danny's eyes also widened, and he coughed uncomfortably. "Oh, well, yeah, he did." He fidgeted a little, not looking at me in the eye.

I could feel that strange feeling in my chest, like I had when we had our falling out, and like the day on the Pier, and every single time I saw Danny and Paulina together…

I removed my hand and sniffed quietly. "I have to go." I muttered, turning around, and I was caught by the wrist, obviously by Danny.

And then, I had the strongest sense of déjà vu, _ever_. I felt like I was on the Pier again, me, standing right up next to Danny with his hand around my wrist and his eyes glowing a dangerous green. Wait, why were his eyes green _now_?

"You are _not_ running away at a time like this," He all but growled, and I shivered a little. Gosh. _Someone_ woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…

And then, his lips were on mine, and my mind went _completely _blank. I could feel, see, hear, or sense anything but Danny right now, and I forgot about Parker (oh shit he's still my boyfriend), and Paulina (who was absolutely famous for her on-and-off relationships, and I just _knew_ she wasn't done with Danny yet).

His hand, which had recently been holding my wrist, went around my waist and pulled me closer to him, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to balance myself better.

We only broke apart whenever we could no longer breathe, and even then he didn't let me go.

This was wrong, very wrong. I was still dating Parker. Danny's had just broken up with his girlfriend like _ten minutes ago_.

We were horrible people.

And yet, I didn't care.

So I just smiled, watching his now-blue eyes shine in a way that I had _never_ seen around Paulina, and leaned in again.

--

**Sorry this took so long, guys. I've been trying to write this all day long and I kept on getting interrupted by very unusual things. Anyway, please review! **

**I have a poll on my bio. (hint, hint).**


	8. maybe i should hate you for this

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 8:**_

**_maybe i should hate you for this_**

**--**

To:foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: I'm a bad person.

Parker is so nice.

And I don't deserve him AT ALL.

I SCREWED EVERYTHING UP.

And yet, I'm happy.

But guilty.

WTF.

- Sam.

--

After my…um, adventurous and exciting night with Danny, I ran home. More like ran away. I mean, kissing Danny was effing _awesome_. It felt like…well, I know this is horrible and cliché, but it felt like I was in heaven. That's bad, isn't it?

But I will still with Parker, and I still felt horrible in the morning, when I realized one thing:

Danny never said "I love you" to me. And it's not like I was completely expecting him to, but it would've been pretty nice. I mean, I said it first. I guess I had gotten distracted because he kissed me, but what if Danny wasn't as apologetic and sincere as I thought? What if he just wanted some _action_ because he thought he was _smooth_ now that he was a Popular?

And more importantly…what if he got back together with Paulina?

Oh, I could kill myself mentally with all the What If questions. I should just _stop_, but I couldn't until I found out what the day brought for me. And I had this horrible gut feeling that today was going to go well.

I contemplated faking sick, but what good would that bring me? That was almost as worse as going to school; just sitting at home, wondering and thinking about the possibilities and torturing myself with the Could've Been's and all that crap.

So, I went to school.

But I should've stayed home.

--

When it was about mid-morning, time for my Chemistry class, Tucker walked up to me. "What do you mean you're a bad person?" He whispered to me.

I looked up in alarm. "Uh…can we not talk about this here?"

Tucker groaned. "But it's killing me!"

"I'll you tell you at lunch," I said casually, slamming my locker shut just as Dash walked up to us.

"Looks like the It Couple are all lovey-dovey again." He observed, leaning against the locker beside mine and gesturing down the hall with a tilt of his head.

I froze, slowly turning my head, dreading what I would see.

And yes, there they were: Paulina and Danny, surrounded by the Populars, all smiles and looking totally…un-broken-up.

I felt like such a loser then. One selfish thought flew through my mind miserably; _What about me_?

But I guess I didn't matter to Danny. I could feel tears welling in my eyes even though I refused to cry during school. I just stared, through slightly-blurry eyes as Danny and Paulina shared a kiss, in front of everyone. I saw as they pulled away, and Danny glanced over to me, smiling but his eyes not-shining, and his face turned serious. He looked guilty, apologetic, and regretful.

But instead of throwing him a smirk or defiantly walking away like I usually would, I just stood there, staring into his eyes while I felt the strange-yet-very-familiar feeling in my chest, and this time, I recognized what that feeling was.

My heart was breaking.

--

I didn't like to brag about myself. I just wasn't that kind of person; I never had that big of an ego or that high self-esteem, but I had to admit that at this moment in time, I was pretty damn strong.

I mean, who else could sit in a room full of people and situations that made you uncomfortable? Probably no one. Paulina was in front of me, Danny beside me. Dash kept shooting me worried looks despite my stony demeanor - he had seen the little show in the hallway. Tucker was sending death glares to Danny - was I lucky to have him on my side, or what?

I glanced down at my desk to see a tiny folded-up piece of paper on my desk. I looked away from it. I wasn't in the mood for notes. I couldn't believe he was even going to _try_ talking to me.

Eventually, after I was tired of feeling four pair of eyes just _staring _at me, I picked the piece of paper up and read it silently.

_Sam,_

_I'm so sorry. I know you won't forgive me right away. But you don't know the whole story, and if you don't think that you'll try to kill me, would you meet me after school so we can talk? Please. That's all I ask for. After that, I'll leave you alone forever, if you want._

_- Danny._

I shook my head slightly. One more chance, one more talk, listen to me, _please_, hear me out, I'm sorry, you don't know the whole story, can we talk?

I was sick of this. I was sick of _him_, I was sick of getting my hopes up, I was sick of _everything_.

I couldn't talk to him, give him a second chance, _nothing_. I had tried that before, and where had it gotten me?

That's right; _nowhere_.

I lifted the paper up to where it was right in front of my face, pretending to read it more closely. I turned my head towards Danny and he sent me a hesitant, hopeful smile. And, just to be cruel, I sent him a small, forgiving smile back. Too bad he didn't know it was fake.

And then, right in front of his eyes, he watched as I ripped the note in half, slowly and painfully. He watched as my forgiving smile turned into a bitter one, and his eyes followed the two identical pieces of paper float gently to the ground.

I heard a small gasp, and without looking I knew it was Paulina. Dash was glaring at Danny now, too, and Tucker was gaping at us.

No more.

I just couldn't handle any more of this.

--

During lunch, I informed Tucker (and Dash) about what happened with Danny last night. Tucker practically went berserk, but Dash was more understanding. After Tucker calmed down, I told him that I was completely done with Danny (as in, forever), and I when saw both pairs of eyes stare at me disbelievingly, I glared at them until they looked away.

Unfortunately, I could feel Danny staring at me all through lunch. His eyes were green most of the time now, and I could tell that he was fighting not to lash out at anyone who talked to him. I pretended I didn't see him and kept feeling miserable about the whole freaking situation.

Eventually, I started to feel trapped and claustrophobic, and I left the cafeteria with the excuse that I was just going to the bathroom. But I'm sure Tucker and even Dash knew that I was planning to just skip school. I snuck through the hallways and went to my locker, seeing a folded-up piece of notebook paper stuck in between the tiny vents of my locker door. I smiled. It was my pen-pal.

I grabbed it and shoved it my pocket, shutting my locker and turning to walk away. Then, I felt someone tug on my wrist, and there I was again: at the Pier, and kissing Danny.

I hated déjà vu.

Instead of giving in right away and getting entirely too close to him like he planned, I immediately tugged my wrist back and stepped away from him. Of course, he wasn't expecting this, and he just let me go. I stood there for a moment, staring at him. His eyes were green, and he was breathing heavily.

"Sam, you have to _listen_ to me -"

"No. Not anymore, Danny. You had your chance. Hell, you had _more_ than one chance! I don't know what you're problem is, but I'm sure you'll be really happy when you find out that Paulina doesn't give a _damn_ about you and you're all alone. I hope you're _happy _now." I ranted heatedly, watching as the color drained out of his cheeks but the green in his eyes just got brighter. And now, he wasn't the only one having problems breathing.

"I don't _want_ to be with Paulina, she just _assumed_ that we were still together this morning and I couldn't do anything about it -" He started.

I snorted. "Oh, and why not? Because you were too afraid to stand up to her? I should've known." I spat out bitterly. "I should've _known_ this would happen." I shook my head, feeling the tears coming back and my chest start to hurt again.

I turned around and started to walk away, trying my best to ignore the fact that Danny was following me, that he was now forcing me to stop walking and had wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. The tears started to fall then, and they turned into full-out pathetic _sobs_ as I wrenched myself away from his grasp, jogging a little to get away from him. I exited the school, ran down the street, and all the way home.

And never once did I look back.

--

I was still sobbing when I fell through the unlocked door of my house, almost knocking a vase off a table beside the door and bumping into another table beside that one. I finally just stopped moving altogether, placing both hands on the table I had almost knocked over and I just couldn't seem to stop crying.

"Sam? What are you doing home so early? Is something wrong-" My mother appeared in the hallway, all dressed up and ready to go out. Probably going to lunch. Her confused and somewhat angry expression fell away, and a sympathetic one replaced it. She sighed, walking over to me. "Oh, Sammy. What happened?" She whispered, hugging me.

Like I said before, my mother wasn't exactly close to me. This had never happened to me before, and yet, it felt so right. Isn't this what mothers are _supposed_ to do?

So, instead of bottling every little emotion up and running away, like usual, I let them flow away from me and I hugged my mom back.

And eventually, the sobs turned into silent tears and then the tears stopped, too. I knew my mother was probably late for whatever meeting or event she had been going to, but she didn't seem to mind. When I pulled back, wiping my face clean of any rolling tears left behind, she smiled at me and guided me up the stairs and to my room.

"Sam, if you need anyone to talk to, I'm right here." She muttered, closing the door on me, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I had to break up with Parker. I was so undeserving of him, especially since I cheated on him. He would be completely heartbroken, but this is something I knew I had to do.

Taking a deep breath, I picked up the phone beside my bed and dialing his number.

After a few rings, he picked up, his deep voice ringing through my ears, "Hello?"

"Hey, Parker." I murmured.

"Oh, hey Sam. What are you doing home?"

I sniffed. "Um…I skipped school. I…need to talk to you."

He must've detected the strange tone of my voice, because he suddenly got serious and replied, "Alright. I'm just driving around, so I'll pick you up and we'll go somewhere. Does that sound good to you?"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. "Yeah, that's fine. See you soon."

"Bye."

I heard a click, and I pressed the button on my own phone, and sighed.

I hoped I was doing the right thing.

--

Parker had brought me to The Nasty Burger, of all places. By now, school was just getting out, and I looked up at the entrance and saw a few Populars walking in, including Paulina and Danny. I sucked in a breath and turned my attention towards Parker.

"Um…Parker, I'm sorry about this…but…well, um." I looked at him, and he had that deep understanding look that I loved. Well, not _loved_. I didn't love Parker. But that look _did_ comfort me, especially in a time like this. "I kissed Danny." I said, my voice just above a whisper. Although technically, Danny had kissed me. But it's not like I was going to tell him that, because that would probably cause Parker to get really angry and try to confront Danny, or something, and I definitely did not need _that_.

"What?" Parker asked, even though I knew by the slight pain in his eyes that he had heard me. "You…kissed…Danny?" His brows furrowed. "Sam, why?" He sighed, but he didn't look completely heartbroken.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. I was barely even able to look at him now, and I was very close to tears.

"Sam, look at me." He took my hand in his and I glanced up at him. "It's okay. I know you love Danny."

My jaw dropped. "What? How do you know that?" I hissed.

"It's pretty obvious. Plus, Tucker told me." He smiled a little. I grumbled under my breath, swearing that _Tucker was a dead man_. He chuckled. "But I do want to thank you."

I looked up in alarm, wondering if maybe Parker was insane. "What?! Why?" I asked, looking around wildly.

"For giving me, _us_, a chance. I still like you a lot, though."

_Hey, at least he hasn't said I Love You, _I thought.

I nodded. "I'm horrible." I moaned, putting my head in my hands.

Parker just shook his head. "No, you aren't. You're human. You can't help it if you love someone that's not me." He was right.

"But that doesn't mean I had to _kiss_ him." I rolled my eyes.

"No, but you're guilty about it, aren't you? I think you beat yourself up enough without me helping you."

I sighed and shook my head at him sadly. "You're too good for me." I whispered.

"On the contrary, Sam, you're too good for _me._ There has to be a reason why you're in love with someone else. What does he have that I don't?" He mocked, crossing his arms over his chest and playfully glaring at me. I couldn't help it, I laughed.

"Does this mean we're broken up?" he asked me, although I knew he already figured out the answer.

I nodded, not looking at him in the eye. "Sorry."

"Stop apologizing. I'm leaving tomorrow, and maybe we wouldn't have worked out. It would've been nice to try, though. I have a bragging problem, and if I told all the guys in Boston that I was dating the most beautiful girl in Amity Park - and beyond - then they would be _insanely_ jealous. But now I ca't brag. Oh well." He shrugged, and I blushed at his compliment. "Anyway, since we're here, want something to eat?"

"Sure, I'm going to the bathroom. Be right back." Parker nodded and we both got up from the booth, him going towards the counter, and me towards the restroom.

As I passed the Popular table, I vaguely noticed that Paulina and Star wasn't sitting there. I locked myself in the only empty stall and took a few deep breaths, and listened as I heard the clicking of high-heels and the sound of running water.

"You're back together with Danny, huh?" That was Star.

"Mmhmm." Paulina murmured casually. "He's such a fool."

I froze, trying to be as quiet as I could so they wouldn't know I was in here.

"Why is that?"

"Well, I'm only dating him because it's _so_ fun to watch that goth geek get steamed up about it. And not to mention that wherever Danny is, so is the Ghost Boy. It's pretty much a win-win situation; I mean, he's dating the hottest girl at school, and I get access to the gorgeous Phantom. Am I brilliant, or what?" I was shaking with anger. Paulina was so _selfish_. I just wanted to smack her in the face.

I wondered what she would ever do if she found out that Phantom and Danny were the same person. She'd probably have a heart attack, or something. She'd never let Danny go.

But that _also_ means that she probably wouldn't break up (at least, for good) with Danny for awhile, because of all the _wonderful_ reasons she was dating him the first place.

God, I hated her so bad.

I heard them both laugh girlishly, and I cringed.

I was still angry with Danny, but I wasn't a sadist like Paulina was.

…or was I? I had told Danny that I would be glad to see him find out just what Paulina really wanted. And then he would wind up all alone. Was I righteous in my anger, or was I being a cold, heartless bitch (like usual)?

For once, I just didn't know anymore.

--

**Is this like the longest chapter ever? It's like, almost six pages. Eh, that's not very long but for **_**me**_** it is. **

**Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Please review!**


	9. be my security blanket

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 9:**_

_**be my security blanket**_

_--_

_Foleyman has signed in at 10:49 p.m._

_Dfentonp has signed in at 10:52 p.m._

Foleyman: You gonna do it today?

Dfentonp: Yes.

Foleyman: You have to be creative. You can't just blurt it out, that's not romantic.

Dfentonp: How am I supposed to make it romantic? I'm seventeen, and that means I'm romantically challenged. And I figured Sam didn't care about that kind of stuff anyways.

Foleyman: Are you kidding me? Sam's still a girl. Of course she cares about that stuff! Deep, deep down, anyways. I could help you, Mr. Clueless. I'm good at this kind of stuff.

Dfentonp: Sorry, I didn't know! And…since when are you an expert at girls and romance? Why can't you get a date with Valerie then?

Foleyman: Figures. I've _always_ been an expert. You just haven't asked for my help before. And…don't speak of that. It's a working progress.

Dfentonp: Sure, sure it is. Good luck with that.

Foleyman: You need more luck than me, buddy.

Dfentonp: Is she really that mad?

Foleyman: More like depressed-angry-vengeful. Bad combination. Do you even need to ask that question? Or do you not know Sam like you should?

Dfentonp: Shut up. That's why…I need your help.

Foleyman: I knew you'd come around.

--

I was torn.

I had just promised myself _yesterday_ that there was to be no more contact with Danny. I was done with him. And then, I had to hear that stupid conversation between Paulina and Star, and now I didn't know whether I should just pretend like I had never heard anything at all…

…or should I throw away my pride and tell him?

I wasn't as mean as I usually acted. I was just mostly sarcastic and cynical. I was mostly mean to the Populars and people who annoyed me, but this was _Danny_. If I could forget about everything that had happened in the past several weeks and remember that _I still loved him_ no matter how hard I tried not to…then I probably wouldn't be Samantha Manson. I could hold a grudge, and I wasn't very forgiving.

But then again, who said I was going to forgive Danny? I was just going to give him a little heads-up about his sneaky, conniving little girlfriend. I know that if _I_ were in Danny's position I would want to know what's going on.

But Ignorance _is_ Bliss.

See what I mean about being torn?

I was just standing at my locker, staring at the inside of it, with all my books, paper, and other various school items, but not really seeing was I was looking at. I glanced down the hall, where the Populars were, and noticed that Paulina was her usual preppy self, and Danny…well, Danny looked depressed. Kind of angst-y. Pretty much how I felt everyday.

I was mourning the loss of Parker, because he had left early this morning, right after he dropped me off from school. He even kissed me before I got out of his car, giving me his nice smile and reminding me that it was such a shame that I couldn't have loved a person like him - instead of a guy that was so clueless when the signs were right in front of his face, and whenever he _did_ see the signs, he was already taken.

Sighing, I shut my locker. Where was Tucker and Dash today? They couldn't have _both_ skipped out today, leaving me alone with the Populars and Danny. That was like torture of the worst kind.

I started to ponder ways of going about informing Danny about the conversation in the bathroom; knowing anything I said would probably cause him into thinking that I was either lying or crazy, and in turn making us fight and then everything would just get worse.

And I didn't want _that_, so I had to go about this carefully.

Careful, with a threatening edge.

Very dangerous.

--

I felt nervous. Danny wouldn't even look at me, and Paulina was as stiff as a board, as if she _knew_ that I _knew_. Dash was asleep, and Tucker had some sort of family thing today, so he wasn't even at school. I swear, that kid misses the most school of anyone that I know.

I quietly ripped a corner off a piece of notebook paper and wrote on it, passing it to Danny.

_Danny,_

_Um, we're not exactly friends right now, I know, but I have to tell you something. _

_And I'm only doing this because I'm not as mean as you think._

_- Sam._

I tapped my pen uncontrollably on my desk as I waited for a reply. Dash had one eye open now, peering at me curiously. Paulina hadn't moved. I focused on taking deep breaths.

_Sam, _

_Isn't this situation ironic? _

_And you know what I say about that?_

_No. _

_- Danny._

My mouth dropped. I heard Dash give a little noise of disagreement, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Danny's hands clench into fists on top of the desk. His eyes were probably green now. If I could see Paulina now, she's probably be smirking triumphantly at me. The mere thought made me want to punch her in the face.

But I wasn't giving up.

_Danny,_

_Yeah, I probably deserved that. But I don't think you have a right to say that, Danny. _

_You kinda sorta hurt me. And you could say that's it's all of Paulina's fault. And I'm just trying to make sure she doesn't break your heart._

_- Sam._

Dash was wide awake now, glaring at Danny, shifting his eyes between the two of us as if he was watching a tennis match. Paulina casually flipped her hair, glancing back at me and shooting me a death glare. This was uncomfortable.

_Sam, _

_So, we're both in the wrong here? _

_I'm SORRY. Listen, I've been trying to talk to you for the past three weeks, but you won't give me the time of day. I thought that I made it clear that I wanted to be with YOU, and I'm breaking up with Paulina. _

_So you don't have to worry about her "breaking my heart", or whatever. _

_Do you think that she has that power over me, Sam? I'm not in love with her._

_I'm in love with __**you**_**.**

_-__Danny._

You could say I had a mini-heart attack when I read that. My eyes widened, my jaw dropped, my stomach lurched, and my heart started beating so fast that I thought it would jump right out of my chest. I warily looked at Danny, who was staring at the front of the room, pretending like he hadn't just confessed his love for me in a note during Chemistry class, where everyone could see.

I smiled, slowly and unsurely. Danny glanced at me, seeing the expression on my face and he smiled, too.

The bell rang.

Today was a good day.

--

Over and over, in my head, I relived the scene of Danny and Paulina, breaking up. It was hilarious, I have to say…

_I looked over to the Popular Table, spotting Paulina and Danny instantly, seeing that they were more secluded from the rest and Danny said something to Paulina, and they both got up and walked closer towards the Outcast Table, standing beside a window. I could hear everything they were saying, but I pretended like I couldn't. Danny winked at me, and I suppressed a laugh._

"_What do you mean, 'we need to talk?' Usually people say that whenever -"_

"_I'm breaking up with you, Paulina." Danny cut her off._

_Paulina gasped dramatically, putting a hand to her chest. "What? Why?"_

"_I'm…in love with someone else." He glanced at me, and I looked away, a small blush on my face. Paulina glared at me. _

"_With the goth-geek?! No!" She shrieked, gaining attention from quite a few people in the cafeteria._

"_What do you mean 'no?'" Danny asked, confused._

"_I mean, you can't break up with me! We have to stay together, so I can be better than HER," She gestured towards me wildly, and I looked up, a faux-innocent look on my face. "And I can't get with Phantom!" She whined, her eyes watering. _

_Danny's eye widened. "That's why you were dating me?"_

_I smirked. Paulina froze, realizing her mistake. "Uh…no, of course not!" She smiled, trying to dazzle him. It didn't work. "I didn't mean it like that -"_

"_It doesn't matter anyways, Paulina. We're over!"_

"_No! We're not over until I say so!" She yelled, stomping her foot. Now, it seemed like everyone was staring at them, and I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. _

_Dash started to laugh, too, a little and soon, I could hear other giggles, snickers, and chuckles coming from other people in the cafeteria. _All_ at Paulina's expense, too. _

_Paulina looked around angrily, finally taking into account that she was being watched. Shooting another glare at Danny and then me, she stomped out of the crowded lunchroom, everyone staring and laughing as she walked off. _

Classic. Truly classic.

"Sam!" I heard someone call behind me, I turned around. I was walking home now, like I had before I met Parker. Since he was gone, I no longer had a ride. True, I could drive myself if I would just give in and drive the car my parents bought me, but carpooling was _so_ better for the environment.

Danny ran up to me, breathless. He smiled. "I did it."

I smiled back. "I know. I'm proud of you."

I was only mildly surprised as I felt a very warm arm wrap around my middle, and I scooted closer to him. "So what are you going to do now?" I asked, more quiet now that we were closer.

He leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Well, I planned on doing something like this."

And then he kissed me.

It felt just like it had the day outside of his house, with my arms wrapped around his neck and his around my waist. Everything else just disappeared, and all I could feel was his lips against mine and the warmth of the sun on my back and his arms around me. Pretty cliché, talking about my "perfect kiss" like I was just a regular, teenage girl. Because I always thought I wasn't a regular, teenage girl. But if being a regular, teenage girl meant that I could make-out with an awesome guy, then sure. I'll take that.

Eventually, when we had both run out of breath, Danny broke away from me but didn't let go, kissing my cheek and my jaw and my neck, and back up again. I let out a dreamy sigh, my eyes still closed.

"Be my girlfriend." He whispered in my ear, kissing me again before I could answer. It was funny, because it wasn't like he had _asked_, like Parker did. He was almost _telling _me or _demanding_ me to be his girlfriend, and even though I didn't like it when people bossed me around, I could make exceptions.

And I just nodded, unable to speak. "Okay." I agreed breathlessly. And I couldn't even regain my composure, because Danny distracted me again by kissing me.

Was today the best day ever, or what?

--

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: You missed out on the best day ever.

I'm not kidding!

Everything has changed!

Well, almost everything. But too bad you missed out. That sucks for you, huh?

LOSER.

- Sam.

P.S. PAULINA SUCKS HAHAHAHA.

--

To: dfentonp

From: foleyman

Subject: Your lover has gone crazy.

I'm lost. Sam just e-mailed me, all psycho-happy and triumphant.

Did you take my advice today? Did you finally break up with Paulina and confess your undying love for your best friend? I knew it. You _did_. You crazy dog. Ha.

I kind of wish I went to school today. That would've been interesting to see.

- Tucker.

P.S. IS SAM YOUR GIRLFRIEND YET?

DAMN YOU MOVE FAST.

--

To: foleyman

From: dfentonp

Subject: I don't have a lover. Yet.

Psycho-happy? That doesn't sound like Sam. She was pretty calm the last time I saw her. Which was like…fifteen minutes ago? She e-mailed you from my computer.

Yes, I took your damn advice. And it worked, surprisingly. Let me tell you how victorious I am:

I broke up with Paulina, but not before telling Sam I loved her in a note during Chemistry class, with Paulina right there. So I told Sam I would break up with Paulina, and I did. And then she tried to get me back by making out with me. It didn't work though.

Did you know that Sam's a better kisser than Paulina?

I could destroy her with that information. But I'll leave that up to Sam.

Anyway, I caught Sam after school (I was kicked out of the Popular group, you know that?) and well, you probably don't want to know the rest. But it was good.

Too bad you missed out.

LOSER.

- Danny.

P.S. YES SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND.

--

_Dear Pink, _

_We meet tomorrow. I have to say, it's been nice writing to you. I thought this assignment would completely suck, but it wasn't that bad. Don't you agree? _

_So, in our papers that we're supposed to write, do you want me to put all the drama and stuff you've been ranting to me? Like your ex-boyfriend, and your enemy, and you're new boyfriend, and all that stuff? That would make an interesting story, don't you think?_

_But, if not, I guess I could write all the other boring stuff about you. _

_You're favorite colors are purple and black, you have black hair, and you don't like cats. _

_BORING._

_You know, I think I know who you are. Do you have any idea who I am?_

_- Purple. _

_--_

To: gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: Don't get mad at me…

BUT I WANT CREDIT, DAMNIT.

You know, the reason you and Danny are dating right now is because I pushed Danny in the right direction. As in, I forced him to break up with Paulina and ask you out.

He would've done it anyway, but I helped!

So, thank me, dear friend.

And _your welcome_.

I'M THE EXPERT,

Tucker.

P.S. Poor Dash, dude. He's like, in love with you and he just has to sit by and watch you and Danny make-out. And then there's Paulina. And Parker.

It's like a love pentagon.

Wait, does a pentagon have six sides?

I was never good at geometry.

--

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: Why would I be mad?

Sure, I give you full credit. Thanks. You're awesome. YAY.

I feel like I just downed five cups of coffee loaded with sugar, or something. Is that bad?

THANK YOU. AHAH.

I'M BETTER THAN YOU ANYWAYS,

Sam.

P.S. Me and you, (and Dash) are finding a girl for Dash, so he doesn't get all depressed, and tries to get revenge on Danny or something. But I don't he would do that, would he? No. Maybe?

I don't know.

You know, you're the one who tutored me in geometry.

And we both failed.

So I don't know either.

ASK DANNY. OR DASH. BUT NOT PAULINA BECAUSE SHE _SUCKS_. HA.

--

I sat on my bed as I read the latest letter from my pen-pal. Now we just needed a spot to meet at after school tomorrow. I had an idea, forming in my head as I thought about it.

The Pier!

It was like the best meeting spot _ever_. That was where I met Parker and then ran into Danny right afterwards, and that was dramatic. Yay, drama.

God, I hope my pen-pal isn't a total dork or a super-jock. Something in the middle would be fine.

What if it's Danny? I rolled my eyes at the thought. That would be kind of ironic. The one person I could actually count on during all the hard times when I was fighting with Danny and Tucker would have to be either my pen-pal, or Parker. And if Purple was Danny, then I would totally feel cheated out. I secretly hoped it wasn't. That would be kind of embarrassing, don't you think?

I closed my eyes and laid flat on my back, sighing.

It's been a long day. Danny told me he loved me, broke up with Paulina (that was hilarious, by the way), and then asked me out. And then we went to his house…and played video games. Okay, and we made-out a little. You could say we caught up a little bit, since we hadn't actually just talked to each other in weeks. It felt nice.

Suddenly, the phone beside my bed rang, and I jumped.

I groaned and leaned over, grasping for the phone blindly and pressing the button. "Hello?"

"Hello? Sam?"

I froze, recognizing the voice instantly.

"Elliot?"

--

**Um, don't kill me? I watched Double Cross My Heart again today, and I then I got a good idea. Also, I was inspired to write from the songs "Bruised" by Jack's Mannequin and "Adore" by Paramore. Yay!**

**Review, good friends. You guys make me so happy. **

**Also, I was thinking about doing a side-story for this, in Tucker's POV. It'll be the Pier scene, you know, when Tucker called Danny? **

**What do you guys think? Should I do it or not? Leave it in a review. (:**

**(P.S. Is it spelled "Elliot" or "Eliot?" I can't remember. Oh well!)**


	10. how can a fistfight be romantic?

_**Confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 10:**_

_**how can a fist-fight be romantic?**_

**--**

"Hey, yeah, it's Elliot. Or Gregor. Whichever you prefer." Elliot chuckled, the Hungarian accent he had faked while he was pretending to be "Gregor" obviously missing from his amused tone of voice. I winced.

"Why are you calling me?" I asked flatly.

"What, you're not happy to hear from me?" He said in mock hurt.

I rolled my eyes. "Not really."

"Well, too bad. I've moved back to Amity Park." He sounded smug.

"Great. But I thought this place was…too freaky for you?" I smirked, even though he couldn't see me.

"Well, once you get past the freaky-ghost part, it's not so bad here." He mused.

"Okay, I have a few questions." I sat up in bed, annoyed and interested at the same time.

"Shoot."

"One: how long have you been here?"

"A few weeks." My eyes practically bulged out my head. A few weeks? I swallowed and continued.

"Um, how'd you get my phone number?"

"Your friend." He said vaguely.

"What _friend_?" I pried.

He sighed. "I forget his name." I could imagine Elliot saying those exact words with his fake accent, and I smiled slightly. Sure, Elliot was a jerk, to me _and_ my friends. But hey, he was amusing sometimes. I guess if you get past the fact that he was pretty mean, he _did_ pretend to be a foreign exchange student from Hungary. Just to go out with me. He _even_ acted like he was an ultra-recyclo-vegeterian. You don't see that every day. "It starts with a T, I think."

I sighed. "Tucker?"

"Sure, that's the one."

"Alright, so…why are you calling me?"

"Hm. I missed you." He really didn't sound like it, though. I shook my head.

"That's wonderful. Are you already enrolled at Casper High?" I decided to brush off the subject of him "missing me", because that was just _asking_ for an awkward situation.

He just kept answering my questions like normal, though, "Yes. I've been going there for about two weeks now."

I gaped at the phone. "How did I not know this?!"

He chuckled, his voice deeper than I remembered. "I've been keeping…a low-profile, you could say. I'm in some of your classes, though." His voice sounded like he knew something I didn't. I frowned.

"Wow, sorry. I guess you could say I've been caught up in a lot of…drama, lately." I wrinkled my nose at the word. I wasn't a freaking cheerleader, I didn't date a jock, I didn't have _preppy_ friends. Drama wasn't my forte.

"I've heard." My face crumpled in confusion. What the _hell_was he talking about?

"Um, yeah. Well, it's getting late. I'll…see you tomorrow?" I fumbled around a bit so I could just get off the phone. This was too weird.

"Okay, goodbye Sam." His voice sounded huskier just then. I hung up the phone quickly, taking a deep breath.

Was it just me, or was Elliot trying to _seduce_me?

God.

That's screwed up.

--

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: DON'T TELL DANNY.

Elliot's back in town!

Or, _Gregor_.

Whatever you want to call him.

Oh, but wait…you know this.

BECAUSE YOU GAVE HIM MY FREAKING NUMBER, YOU IDIOT!

Why? Why do you do this to me? I just started dating Danny.

DO YOU _WANT_ TO RUIN ME, MAN?

Obviously.

Does Danny know about this yet? I'd rather he not find out, because c'mon…

…he gets jealous easily.

Although that's kind of hot.

HAHA.

- Sam.

P.S. I THINK HE WAS ALSO TRYING TO _HIT_ ON ME!

--

To: gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: Oops…?

Sorry about that. He called me (I think he found my number in the phonebook) and asked for your number straightaway. I think he's like, in love with you, or something. That sucks, doesn't it?

Sorry…Danny's is, well _was_, at my house…right when you sent that e-mail. He would've found out anyways, Sam, don't get _too_ mad.

Maybe he took your "He's hot when he's jealous" comment to heart. THAT WAS TOTALLY SICK, BY THE WAY. EW.

No, I don't _want_ to ruin you. Elliot won't get in the way of you and Danny, I promise.

_Phantom_ will probably kill him, first.

Ha, I can totally imagine that. Elliot doesn't take well to ghosts, does he?

- Tucker.

P.S. No, duh. He likes you.

--

First it was "Gregor." Then it was Dash. Next was Parker, now Danny…and _Elliot_.

What was wrong with the guy here in Amity Park, lately? I've always been the outcast, the loner. Paulina is the one who gets all the male attention around here, not _me_. Ha, now that I think about it, it's kind of funny. I could flaunt my new-found attractive-ness and make Paulina jealous.

_Yes_.

Now, that was a plan for another day…

But first, on my agenda were just the few following things:

1). Stop Danny from murdering Elliot. Sure, he's a jerk. But I don't want to have to explain why my boyfriend was a human/ghost/murderer hybrid. _Bad_ combination.

2). Prevent Elliot from hitting on me further, because it's annoying, creepy, weird, uncomfortable, and bad for everyone's stress levels. Especially mine.

3). (This one has been bugging me for like three months now!)

…find out how the hell Danny ended up with Paulina, and why he ditched us.

I couldn't tell which was more important; number one or number three.

--

To: gothgirl16

From: dfentonp

Subject: _Gregor?_

What the hell, Sam?!

I'm not mad at you, don't get me wrong - but isn't it weird that we just started going out and then someone like him shows up? I don't like him, at all.

And he hit on you.

That's another reason why I don't have to like him…_nobody_ hits on my girlfriend and gets away with it.

Oh…and you really think that I'm hot when I'm jealous?

- Danny.

--

To: dfentonp

From: gothgirl16

Subject: No, Elliot.

Oh please. You're really overreacting, you know that? It's not like I'm _attracted_ to him.

But, yes. You're hot when you're jealous…and in that case:

HAHA ELLIOT'S BEEN HITTING ON ME!

Just kidding.

But seriously, don't kill anyone.

Also, I'm going to the Pier to meet my pen-pal person tonight (and it _better_ not be you!), and please, please don't make one of your dramatic entrances like you do. It's not healthy for me _or_ you.

- Sam.

--

To: gothgirl16

From: dfentonp

Subject: Who cares?

I'm not overreacting! I'm being…a normal boyfriend. About as normal as _I_ can get, anyways.

Sam, don't tempt me. I already want to do some serious bodily harm to _Elliot_.

I don't think you should go to the Pier. Something bad could happen, you're "pen-pal" could be a rapist, or a serial killer, or something. You could get kidnapped and I'll never see you again -

I'm overreacting again, aren't I?

No, wait. Not overreacting. Just…being the good, protective, sweet boyfriend. Right?

Yes.

- Danny.

P.S. I love you! I mean, just in case you _do_ get kidnapped, or, something.

--

To: dfentonp

From: gothgirl16

Subject: Um, no one?

Sure. You're not overreacting at all. You're totally normal.

Can you sense the sarcasm?

Now, I _do_ think it's sweet (on a certain level) that you want to protect me from my rapist and serial killer of a pen-pal, but you're being unrealistic, dear. I'll be _fine_. Stay out of Elliot's way, don't come to the Pier, I'll talk to you when I get back home, I'll be just perfectly okay.

Believe me now?

Yes, right.

- Sam.

P.S. Excuses, excuses.

I love you, too.

--

I walked down the Pier, occasionally glancing behind me and making my footsteps very pronounced. My pen-pal had told me to meet him at the Pier, because he didn't want our meeting to be boring, like going to the Nasty Burger or to the mall. I couldn't help but think, "Well, isn't it ironic how I met Parker at the Pier?" But I guess I shouldn't read so much into it, it's not like no one else went to the Pier. It was a pretty popular place, depending on what type of people you're talking about.

I stood very close to the water, combat boot-clad toes over the unstable, wooden edge. It was also strange how the sun was setting just then, and it looked the same-yet-different as when I met Parker. The sun was brilliant yet it wasn't so bright that you couldn't stare at it anyways, and the sky surrounding it was painted with oranges, pinks, purples, and yellows, the colors starting out vibrant and fading more and more until the sky was just completely blue, with a few clouds here and there. I always loved watching the sunset, I remember when -

"Pink?" I turned automatically at the voice behind me, knowing who it was. I scowled.

"I hate you." I seethed, stomping my foot. I could feel the foundation of the Pier shake slightly under the pressure. I didn't even notice.

Dash laughed. "I had an idea it was you."

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. "Great, just great. You're my confidant now, Dash. Thanks." I said sarcastically.

"Oh, don't be like that." He grinned. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

I gave in, giving him a small smile. "No, I guess not. But I was expecting something different, you know? Someone who wasn't you, or Danny, or Tucker, or Elliot."

He raised a brow. "Who's Elliot?" He asked. I sighed.

"Just some guy I know." I shrugged vaguely.

Dash shrugged too, letting it go. "I'm really your confidant now?" He asked suddenly, looking happy.

I laughed. "Well, yeah. I tell you _everything_. It's almost like you're one of my best friends now." I smiled at the realization. It was true; I sat with Dash everyday lunch, talked to him between and during classes, hung out with him after school. I told him most of the things I've already told Tucker and Danny - save a secret or two - and he's helped me through the past few dramatic months. If that's not a friend, then what is?

Dash's grin only got wider, and he opened his mouth to say something, but we heard a _crash_ and I felt a strange, small feeling below me. Almost like a sinking feeling -

I heard a yell, and glanced up quickly, spotting something that looked liked what I was trying to avoid.

Danny - actually it was Phantom, but you know what I mean, and Elliot were _both_ here, fighting. Yelling is more like it, and I groaned. What did I tell him?!

Judging from what they were saying, they were fighting over _me_. Danny had taken an intimidating stance, pointing a finger at him as he yelled, but Elliot didn't look like he was stepping down anytime soon. Elliot looked taller and bulkier from when I last saw him, and his white hair was longer, and it fell slightly over his eyes.

I couldn't help but realize that Danny in his ghost form and Elliot looked kind-of alike. Creepy.

I looked down as I felt the strange sinking feeling again, and I just brushed it off as my overactive imagination playing tricks on me. I turned my attention back to the two fighting idiots and took a deep breath, and…screamed.

All three guys turned towards me, looks of panic and disbelief across their features. I crossed my arms (again) and rolled my eyes. "What the hell?" I looked pointedly towards Danny.

He shot me a sheepish smile. "Well, actually, I followed _him_ here," He cocked his head towards Elliot. "It's not like I was going to let him come here and bother you. Sorry."

"You're such a liar," Elliot sneered. "I was taking a walk and _he_ showed up, and started…harassing me." He smirked. "What's the big deal anyway, ghost kid? Jealous?"

Danny's eyes flashed dangerously and he stepped closer towards him.

I opened my mouth to protest, but the sinking feeling was suddenly stronger, and I could feel myself moving. I looked down, and instead of my mouth being open to tell Danny to calm himself, I screamed instead, right before falling into the water below me.

--

**Ha. Sorry. Cliffhanger. **

**I put a little possessive-protective-fluff from Danny in there. I couldn't help it. **

**So…did you guys suspect Dash as Sam's pen-pal? I know you guys probably thought it was Elliot or Danny. Sorry if their meeting was a little…bland. **

**REVIEW!**

**Also, yes…this story is **_**almost**_** done. I'll give you a heads-up a few chapters before, though. **


	11. it's not your heart that hurts this time

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 11:**_

_**it's not your heart that hurts this time**_

**--**

To:dfentonp

From: foleyman

Subject: Is it true?!

Everyone says that Sam (well, and you) hasn't came to school today because she almost drowned! What the hell.

Care the explain?

And if it's true, then why I haven't been notified about my best friend almost dying?

- Tucker.

--

When I became conscious, all I could think about was the fact that I could breathe. I had to concentrate to keep my stomach and chest moving in a steady rhythm, feeling deprived of oxygen. Suddenly, I felt movement beside me (where was I, again?) and someone was lifting my head and putting something over my head and ohmygawdI'mnotgoingtobeableto_breathe_ -

And I took a huge breath, feeling immediately relieved at the fact that breathing was so much easier now. An oxygen mask was put on me. No one was trying to suffocate me.

Now that I had moved past the first and most difficult (or at least I thought) obstacle, I started to concentrate on moving my body and opening my eyes. I couldn't exactly remember what had happened in the past few hours (days? Weeks? Months? _Years_?), but I could recall the sinking feeling, and then falling, and the cold sting of the water all around me -

Oh, that. Yeah. I almost drowned, didn't I?

I tried moving my hand, feeling all my muscles tighten and cramp, as if I hadn't moved in a long, long time. I winced inwardly. This was bad. I was sure that either Dash, Elliot, or Danny had saved me from the river, and I was most likely Danny. He was good at this saving-people-hero thing. I knew my parents were probably hysterical now…but hey, since Danny saved my life, maybe they felt like they were obligated to be nice to him now? That would be nice.

I couldn't hear much, and the things that I _did_ hear sounded muffled, hollow, and far-away, giving me the impression that I was still underwater. Not a good feeling, let me tell you. I attempted to pry my eyes open, then, and I was gifted with the horrible watery and burning feeling in them, like I had been swimming in a pool all day and I kept rubbing them.

I _did_ manage to get them to open a tad bit, but my surroundings were distorted and hazy. I blinked slowly a few times, willing them to open wider, despite the bright fluorescent light in the room. Still blinking rapidly, I turned my head carefully to my right and saw that the chair beside my bed was empty. Hm. Did that mean I had by chance woken up when everyone else had just left the room, or was I just that unloved?

I decided not to dwell on that thought, and stared at the ceiling remorsefully. This was torture. I hated hospitals with a passion, and now I was trapped in one. Somebody please save me -

I heard the door click softly all of a sudden, and I sat up a little (but only a little, because I was still very weak), achieving a head rush and I shut my eyes again and fell back onto my pillow. I heard a small, humorless chuckle.

"That was quite a show."

I had thought the person who came would be my mom or dad, or Danny or Tucker. Maybe even Dash.

But not freaking Elliot.

I groaned in frustration, and he took it that I was in pain, or something. "Should I call a nurse?" He asked, panicked. I shook my head, opening my eyes again.

I wanted to say something, but I was too greedy for oxygen at the moment, and didn't want to take off the mask. Although I probably looked funny with it on.

"You probably don't want any visitors. Unless it's your boyfriend." He laughed. I shrugged, finally taking a good look of him. I winced when I saw the state he was in. He looked slightly dirty and mussed up, the shoulder of his t-shirt had quite a large rip in it. His bottom lip was split, but it had stopped bleeding, and he had a black eye.

Danny had done more than punched him, obviously. I sighed, ignoring the horrible pain that went through my lungs when I did.

"Actually, he was in here like ten minutes ago, but the doctor told him to leave because he had been in here for like twelve hours straight."

My eyes popped open. Twelve _hours_?

Elliot must've noticed the shocked look on my face, because he quickly explained, "You fell in the river just yesterday, around eight. Right now it's about…nine in the morning. The Ghost Kid saved you, by the way. He brought you here." I nodded, feeling tired and sad. Poor Danny.

"Well, I better go tell everyone you're awake. Prepare to feel the wrath of all your family and friends." I whimpered slightly, and he laughed again. "Bye, Sam. I'll talk to you later." I lifted off the mask just as he was about to turn away.

"Thanks, Elliot." My voice was raspy and hoarse. I cringed at the sound.

He smiled. "No problem."

--

To: foleyman

From: dfentonp

Subject: Yes…

Sam _did_ almost drown and I was _going_ to tell you but I've been at her side for the past…say, oh, thirteen hours now. The doctor finally made me leave. Forced me to, actually.

Tucker, I can't even _begin_ to tell you how scared I was.

Note:

Never go to the Pier again.

- Danny.

--

"I'm sorry," Danny whispered for the hundredth time, stroking my hand with his thumb gently.

I rolled my eyes. I had felt sorry for him earlier, but now he was just getting annoying. I had the oxygen mask off now, and while it was much easier to breathe, I could feel a familiar burning sensation in my lungs, and my throat itched uncomfortably. The downsides of almost drowning, I suppose.

The nurse flitted around me dizzyingly, a clipboard in hand. She propped me up in the bed, literally forcing me to sit up. I felt unsteady, and I just couldn't _wait_ until I tried to walk. I'd probably fall right on my face and break my nose, or something. My stomach felt strangely…full, even though I hadn't ate in a long time. Or drank anything…

My eyes widened in horror. That was it. My stomach was filled with water from the _river_. Crap, so _that_ was what that little plastic bucket was for beside my bed. I felt queasy, but I held down the feeling. I'm pretty sure I had a pained look on my face, though. I probably looked constipated. The thought made me giggle a little.

Danny looked at me strangely, but he didn't say anything. Good decision. I sighed. "Don't blame yourself, Danny. You're the one who saved me." I muttered quietly, hoping no one would hear me. Everyone thought it was _Phantom_ who saved me, and technically they were right. Except for the fact that Danny and Phantom were the same person. Or, ghost. Whatever.

Danny had a thoughtful look on his face, then. "You know how we e-mailed each other right before you left to meet your pen-pal?" He asked. I nodded, hiccupping a little. I felt like a little kid, sick at home with the flu, in need of constant attention. In other words, I felt pretty freaking sick. Not to mention pathetic.

He continued. "Well, I'm glad that we got to say that we loved each other. Because if you would have -"

"Don't say that," I snapped. I removed my hand from his and put it on his cheek. "I'm not going to die. I _didn't_ die. I'm fine. But…you're right. I'm glad we did." I smiled a little.

He stood up, and for a second I thought he was leaving, but those fears vanished when he sat down on the edge of my bed, putting his hand on the side of my face, brushing my hair back. I closed my eyes as he first kissed my cheek, then my forehead, my eyelids, and all the way down my jaw line until our lips met in a soft kiss. I vaguely heard someone knock on the door to my room, I ignored the sound, wrapping a shaking arm around Danny's neck and sighing into his mouth. He replied by wrapping an arm around my middle gingerly, bringing me closer.

"Hey, stop it! Lovebirds." I heard a male voice protest, and I broke away from him reluctantly and looked past his shoulder.

"Hey, Tucker."

He grinned. "Yeah, it looks like you're doing okay to me," He teased, sitting down in the chair on my left side, while Danny plopped down on my right, holding my hand.

"Did you skip out of school? It's only one-thirty." He nodded.

"Well, _duh_. My best friend almost drowned. I just wish I could've known about this _earlier_," He shot a glare towards Danny and I smiled a little.

It was a great feeling, really, with the three of us talking and acting like we did before the whole Paulina fiasco. I missed days like these. Minus the hospital room and the fact that I almost drowned, of course. But the details didn't matter.

I felt a bad, churning feeling in my stomach, and I winced, shifting a little.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked, alarmed. I nodded, pasting a smile on my face. But he could see right through it.

"Are you going to puke?" Tucker asked flatly, and I shrugged, not daring to open my mouth to respond.

Danny reached for the bucket and put it in my lap. "You need sometime alone?" He asked quietly. I smiled, laughing silently.

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Did they drug you up?"

I just laughed harder.

Danny groaned. "I need coffee."

They left the room, and I stared down into the bucket miserably.

I _hated_ water.

Especially water from rivers.

--

"I have a question." I declared, and Danny glanced towards me warily.

I had been out of the hospital for two days now, and I was being forced to stay in bed for the next couple of days until I was completely better. Danny had just "dropped off my homework", and we were lounging on my bed comfortably. I was resting on my bed, my knees bent. Danny was on his side, his arm wrapped around my waist and his nose nuzzling my neck.

He made a 'hmm'-ing noise, and I continued, "How did you and Paulina started going out?" I asked the question quickly, just like ripping off a band-aid. I felt Danny stiffen slightly; he didn't like talking about the period in time when he had dated Paulina, but it hadn't been that long ago. I needed to know how they started to go out in the first place….and I just hoped that Paulina had used her evil, seductive powers to pull him into a strange trance.

"I don't wanna talk about it." He mumbled against my skin, and I shivered.

"Please? It's important to me."

He groaned. "Why?" I didn't answer, just waited patiently.

He sighed and pulled himself up into a sitting position, much to my displeasure. He sat a hand on my knee and I could see the bags under his eyes, feeling slightly guilty for making him tell me a story. But after he was done, he could sleep all he wanted.

"The whole truth?" He asked cautiously.

I nodded. The truth might hurt, but I still wanted to know. "Do your worst." I smiled. He glared at me.

He took a deep breath, "Well, it was on a Saturday, and Tucker was at his Family Reunion thing, remember?" I nodded. "I don't know where you were at." He mumbled, looking a little ashamed.

"Keep going…"

Sighing, he continued with his story:

"I went with Jazz to the Nasty Burger since she was home from college for the weekend, and the whole Popular crowd was there. Jazz and I were sitting at our usual table and when she got up to go to the bathroom, Star came over and started talking to me. You know, like she was my friend or something. She said Paulina had a thing for me and that she thought that the two of us should talk." He rolled his eyes, and I did the same. _Amateurs_.

"So when I went up to get a refill on soda, Paulina came up there and started talking to me. And…well, she said she wanted to _show_ me something, and I didn't get the clue so I followed her outside. And, um, she pushed me up against the building and started making out with me." He finished, embarrassed.

My mouth dropped open, and my face turned red in anger. "That _slut_." I hissed, crossing my arms. Danny's hand squeezed my knee reassuringly.

"Do you want to hear the rest?"

I nodded, still angry.

"Well, then she said she had liked me for a long time, and that she wanted to go out with me. Of course, I didn't know then that she was controlling, mean, heartless, and a total bitch." The slightly amused look on his face turned dark in remembrance, and I burst out laughing. He frowned. "What?" He whined, laying down again and burying his face in my shoulder.

"Danny, I've known that she was controlling, mean, heartless, and a _total bitch_ since we were like, in the sixth grade." I continued laughing, the dull ache in my chest that had failed to leave me since my accident started to throb, and I coughed a little. Danny lifted his head, looking at me with concern.

"Calm down, you'll end up choking to death." I smiled.

"But you would just save me." I retaliated, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Go to sleep." He laid his head down, kissing me on my neck sweetly.

"Yes, mister ghost man." He snorted.

"Too much drugs, Sam. Too much drugs."

--

**This chapter was a little short, and uninteresting, I know. But I put in extra Danny/Sam fluff for you all. And with this fair warning, know that this story is coming to an end. Sad, huh?**

**Please review! You guys make me so happy. -smile-**


	12. plans, revenge, blackmail, and screw ups

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 12:**_

_**plans, revenge, blackmail, and screw-ups**_

**--**

To: dfentonp,foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: Great idea!

Revenge plan.

Paulina is going down.

I'll give you all the details tomorrow after school, at the Nasty Burger, okay?

I'M EXCITED.

- Sam.

--

My grin widened as I spotted Tucker and Danny walk into the Nasty Burger, taking their sweet old time. I tapped my foot impatiently, fidgeting with the straw in my almost-empty glass of soda. Danny slid smoothly (Danny, smooth? Sounds weird, doesn't it?) in beside me, casually putting an arm around my waist and scooting me closer to him. I looked up at him with a small smile on my face, and he smiled back and leaned down to kiss me.

Our kiss only lasted a few seconds before I heard a cough and some unnecessary loud tapping on the table. I broke away from Danny, who was frowning as we pulled away. I tried not do any PDA when Tucker was around, because I didn't want to make him feel left-out, or like he was the third wheel. He didn't really seem to mind that Danny and I were now dating, I mean, he was happy for us, I knew. But I doubted that he enjoyed watching Danny suck my face right in front of him.

"So, you have a _revenge plan_, huh?" Tucker asked with a smirk. I smirked right back.

It was going to be epic.

Three weeks from now was going to be the week of the Annual Ski Trip, and the juniors and seniors packed up their stuff and headed off for a week of snow, skiing, sledding, hot chocolate, and…drama. This was the time when people usually did all the things they usually did except way worse; cheated on their boyfriends/girlfriends, hooked-up with people they didn't really like, discovered their, ahem, _real_ feelings for people…like last year whenever two girls realized that they weren't exactly interested in guys anymore…

…and I'll leave it at that.

But anyway, I knew that this was the perfect time to put my ingenious plan into action. Paulina would be completely vulnerable; no boyfriend, no Dash to hook-up with on the side. She had been sulking and glaring at me ever since Danny had broken up with her, but I guess I'd be pretty mad if I were Paulina.

But I thank God everyday that I'm not.

Anyway, The Plan had a _lot_ to do with Danny. Or, I guess it had more to do with Phantom. Paulina still had "feelings" for Phantom, and if "Phantom" magically showed up to the cabin in the mountains where we happened to be staying, flirt with her senselessly, and then _dumped her_ for someone else (the real problem was - who?)…right in front of her. She's be devastated. Pissed off. Shocked.

Which was exactly what I wanted to happen.

And as I told Tucker and Danny this plan, I saw the devilish smirk on Tucker's face that matched my own, and the minor look of horror on Danny's. I'd have to bring out the big guns to get him to agree with his part of the plan.

I turned towards him, an innocent smile on my face. "Danny…," I started slowly.

His eyes widened. "No, Sam. This is a bad idea. I mean, I'm all for getting revenge on Paulina…but do you really have to have _me_ partake in The Plan?" He asked, uneasy.

I nodded, and shrugged. "Well, Paulina really only dated you so she could get closer to Phantom - which is you. And, you know, I figured since you kind _dumped Tucker and I for the Populars and pretty made my life living hell_ that you would agree to this small, simple thing that would bring everyone joy. Except for Paulina, of course." I finished my speech with a grin, crossing my arms and inspecting my fingernails.

Danny sighed, looking torn. "You just had to say that, didn't you?" My smile got wider. "Alright, I'll do it."

Tucker fake-coughed. "Danny's whipped," He muttered.

Danny glared at him, and clapped my hands once to gain their attention. "We'll need to do some more careful planning before the actual trip, so we better get down to work soon."

They both nodded, looking like two servants serving their queen.

Yes.

I have trained them well.

--

To: gothgirl16, foleyman

From: dfentonp

Subject: The Plan.

You know the part where _Phantom_ "dumps" Paulina and goes for someone else?

Well how about Sam and I _fake break-up_ (not for real, get it straight) before the trip and when Phantom "magically" shows up, he falls for Sam.

But I think he already has…

- Danny.

--

To: dfentonp

From: gothgirl16

Subject: AW.

That's a pretty good idea. Okay, so I don't like the thought of us breaking-up, even if it is fake. But it's either that or have you "fall" for someone else.

And let me say…

THAT IS SO SWEET.

AND I USUALLY DON'T GO FOR THAT KIND OF THING.

AW.

- Sam.

--

To: dfentonp

From: foleyman

Subject: Wow.

I'm impressed. I didn't expect _you_ to come up with something like that.

Haha, just kidding. But really, that's pretty awesome.

And, uh, dude…

Don't say that kind of stuff when you send the e-mail to me, too. Save all the gushy-lovey-dovey stuff for when you two are ALONE.

I don't even _want_ to think about it.

- Tucker.

--

"Sam!" I jumped a little at the shout, and I turned away from my locker to peer down the hallway. Of course, it was Dash. He was _running_ towards me, looking every bit like the Popular Jock that he had been just months ago. I laughed a little as he dodged students and teachers, jumping over a trashcan. What the heck was going on?

He came to an abrupt halt right in front of me, grinning and panting. "Hi, Dash. Something wrong?" I slammed my locker shut.

He shook his head. "Not for me."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Uh…what are you talking about?"

"It's Elliot."

I crossed my eyes in exasperation, and Dash laughed. "What does he want now?"

"A date."

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "He _knows_ that I'm with Danny now, but he still wants a date. What else is new?"

Dash's grin slipped a little, looking at anything but me. I glared at him.

"Dash? Is there something you're not telling me?"

He just shook his head.

"Dash."

"You'll probably go on a rampage."

"Is it that bad?"

"…yes."

"TELL ME!" I yelled, getting fed up.

"OKAY! Okay." He took a deep breath. "Somehow, Elliot found about _The Plan_." I gasped. Dash put a hand up, preventing me from speaking. "And now, he's threatening to tell Paulina and uh, everyone else The Plan unless you go on a date with him."

I moaned, putting my hands up to my face. "No, no, no, no, no! Why? Why is he _doing_ this to me?"

Dash shrugged, looking helpless. "I don't know…"

"Danny will be pissed." I whined.

"What? Why would I be pissed?" A curious voice asked in my right ear, scaring me shitless. I jumped and yelped as Danny just smirked, wrapping an arm around my waist. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head rapidly, pasting a smile on my face. "Nothing, nothing's wrong." I looked towards Dash for support. I raised a brow and his eyes widened, nodding.

"I heard that there was going to be a pop quiz today in Chemistry." My jaw practically dropped to the ground. When did Dash get so good at _lying_?

Danny winced. "That sucks. There's no way that I'm prepared for _that_." I let out a small sigh of relief, murmuring my agreement.

The three of us turned to walk to our Chemistry class, and when I casually turned my head, I saw Elliot.

And he was smiling.

--

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: Houston, we have a problem.

Elliot _knows_.

And he's BLACKMAILING me. I either go on a date with him or he tells everyone about The Plan.

What do I do now?

- Sam.

P.S. Do. Not. Tell. Danny.

--

To: gothgirl16

From: foleyman

Subject: Houston is screwed now!

Shit. How the _hell_ did he find out? The only people that know is me, you, Danny, and Dash. Did Dash tell?

I guess you're going to have to go on that "date." But if I were you, I'd be prepared for any sneaky moves that Elliot is probably going to make. Don't let him date rape you!

And as much as you want to, you can't hide this from Danny.

It's almost like cheating.

- Tucker.

--

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: Oh, God. This sucks so bad.

What if kisses me? Or gropes me?

That'd be bad. Very, _very_ bad.

And I CAN'T tell Danny! He's not going to let me go on some other date with another guy! And then the whole Plan will be ruined, I tell you! _RUINED._

…

Shit.

- Sam.

--

"Danny," I started sweetly, twirling a very short piece of his soft black hair around my finger absentmindedly. He cracked an eye open.

"Yes?" He said in the same tone of voice. I frowned.

We were in my room again, laying on my bed. We really were supposed to be studying, because we had our _real_ Chemistry test tomorrow. But the books were scattered on the floor, forgotten. You could say we get distracted easily.

I was laying on my back, staring at the ceiling. Danny's head was resting on my shoulder, one arm thrown over my waist. I could feel his every breath against my neck. "I need to tell you something."

His head shot up then. "It's bad, isn't it?" My eyes widened. "You're not going to break-up with me for real, are you? Or, is it something like…YOU HAVE CANCER."

I snorted. "Shut it, you paranoid freak. I'm not breaking up with you, I don't have cancer." I sat up too, resting my hands on his shoulders. I stared into his eyes. "But something _is_ wrong."

Danny rubbed his temples, his eyes shutting in exasperation. "Lay it on me."

"Well…," I drug out, putting a hand to his face and running my index finger down the side of his face gently. Maybe distracting him would take the edge off when I told him the bad news. "Elliot knows about our Plan, and he says he's going to tell the whole school. Unless I go on a date on with him." Danny's eyes shot open, and my finger paused.

His eyes were green.

"What?" He hissed.

I laughed nervously. "It's not that bad! I mean, I go on one simple date with him, and he keeps his lips sealed." Danny was shaking his head.

"Sam, it's not that easy! He doesn't just want a _date_. He's going to want to touch you. Or _kiss_ you." I winced. I didn't that would even cross Danny's mind.

"I won't let him." I said firmly.

Danny put his hands on my shoulders. "No."

I groaned. "The Plan will be ruined! This is our one and only chance!"

Danny rolled his eyes. My hands fell away from his shoulders, and he did the same thing. Something bad was going to happen, I could tell by the miserable feeling in my stomach…

"That's all you care about lately, Sam. The Plan, revenge, Paulina. Aren't you ever going to give it up?" He sounded angry and tired. Danny was rarely angry with me. This was bad.

"No! You, of all people, should want to get revenge for what she was planning to do to you." I argued, standing up from the bed and putting my hands on my hips.

He followed me, putting both of his hands on my face, looking into my eyes. "Sam, let it go. We're together now. You don't need to get revenge."

I paused. I had two replies in my mind. One agreed with Danny; it was the one that gave up and put up the white flag. And the other? That was the one that was _burning _white flag, still clinging on. It still wanted revenge.

I didn't know which one to go with, so I did the easiest. The second one.

"You don't understand, Danny. I need to do this."

And just like, his hands fell away from my face. His face was stony, and I watched with minor horror as he switched to his ghost mode.

"Then go get your revenge, Sam. Have fun. Just…leave me out of it."

And he disappeared.

--

**Oh my…I have **_**so**_** many new ideas for this story. So I can safely say that's it's not going to end anytime soon. Yay! Oh, and Danny and Sam didn't exactly **_**break-up**_**, per se. They had a fight. **

**Please review!**


	13. no pain, no gain

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 12:**_

_**no pain, no gain**_

_**--**_

To: foleyman

From: gothgirl16

Subject: SHOOT ME.

I screwed up _bad_. Why? Why do I do such horrid things? I just get Danny and now…

I CHASED HIM AWAY WITH MY NEED TO GET REVENGE.

Not only that, but I STILL need to get revenge. I WILL NOT REST.

I don't know what The Plan is going to be now…but I'll figure out something.

Have you talked to Danny lately?

- Sam.

--

_Samantha Manson's List of Things That Totally Suck Right Now, _I wrote on top of a clean sheet of paper, alternating between glaring at Paulina in front of me and shooting uneasy glances towards Danny. He wouldn't even _look_ at me. Of course, I had decided to leave him alone so he could let off some steam, figuring that he'd be a little better after sleeping on it. He'd just realize that _I_ was in the right, and he was wrong. But this morning when I came to school (I had to _walk_), he just walked right past me.

I couldn't say it didn't hurt, because it did. But another, small part of me just got even hungry for revenge.

But all the same, I was guilty. I really had no other choice now: I had to go on that "date" with Elliot. I didn't _want_ to. In fact, I considered faking a horrible, permanent disease just to get out of it. Maybe cancer. Maybe an STD, because that would _really_ freak him out.

And while I knew that going on this date would mean ruining everything I had with Danny, and there was _still_ that little chance that the Plan wouldn't even go the way I wanted to; I still had to do this. There was no way around it.

Looking back down at my paper, I continued writing my list:

_SAMANTHA MANSON'S LIST OF THINGS THAT TOTALLY SUCK RIGHT NOW:_

1. Danny and I had a fight. OUR FIRST FIGHT. A fight that may or may not break us. Blegh.

2. One word: ELLIOT. Enough said.

3. Uh, The Plan. Not exactly the Plan in itself, it's just the tiny fact that it might go wrong or horribly backfire right in my face. And with my luck at the moment, it will do both.

4. My conscience! I feel horrible for being so self-centered, but PAULINA IS GOING TO GET WHAT'S COMING TO HER AND THAT IS THAT.

--

I sighed for the hundredth time, spinning my fork around in my food absentmindedly.

"You could give up. Not do the plan at all," Tucker suggested. He thought he was being helpful. I just thought he was being annoying. I shook my head wordlessly. He sighed. "Fine, don't listen. You're going to regret it."

_I already do_, I thought, but I kept my thoughts to myself.

Dash shifted uncomfortably in his seat next to me. It was just the three of us again; we weren't sure where Danny was. Oh, it's not like he was avoiding all of us: it was just me he was angry with. He still talked to Tucker and even _Dash_ sometimes, and that just made me pissed off. I could see why he was mad, but now he was deliberately putting the two of them in the middle of _our_ issues.

I looked at Paulina, watching as she flipped her hair and laughed with disgust. She was going to be brought down, obviously.

But was it going to ruin me in the process?

I had been avoiding that thought all day long. I stayed up almost all night last night, weighing my options and choices. _I _was the one being stubborn, stupid, selfish, and mean. But I still couldn't help myself. I'm sure plenty of other people would be so happy when I brought Paulina down, anyways. Even if I wasn't.

I dropped my fork onto my tray with a clang and pushed my tray away forcefully, then burying my head in my arms on the table, deciding to sleep away the rest of the lunch hour.

I heard Tucker pick up my tray and his, and with a slight struggle, I also heard him leave the table. I was lucky to have a friend like him, for sure.

"Sam?" I heard a whisper.

"Hm?"

"I agree with Tucker."

My head popped up to glare at Dash, who was gazing at me solemnly. I let out a humor-less laugh. "You too, huh?" I shook my head, brushing my hair out of my face. "It's none of your business anyway." I whispered, looking at the table.

There was an uncomfortable silence that followed. "You'll just hurt everyone - and yourself - more." Then, he left the table too, slowly and deliberately.

What, they were just going to leave me alone? Probably going to Danny, to tell him I wasn't making any improvement. I was sure they were probably on his side anyways.

I groaned miserably and hit my head on the table.

Repeatedly.

--

If I kept scowling like this, my face was permanently going to stick that way.

At the moment, I was in hell. Or, to be more specific, I was in a cramped, dark, stuffy movie theater sitting next to _Elliot_. He was holding a partly-empty bucket of popcorn in his lap, his glasses finally off. He has nice eyes. But they aren't as nice as Danny's.

I knew that being with someone else other than Danny would make me miserable, even though dating Parker hadn't been that bad. But I in effing _agony_.

Well, maybe it wasn't that bad. But it was CLOSE.

Elliot kept glancing at me curiously, taking amusement at my disgruntled expression. I mean, I had a right to be! He conned me into doing this! Hell, the movie wasn't even good. Too…chick-flick-ish.

I crossed my arms, hunching down so and scooting away from him; crushing any hope he had to make a move. Yes, this would work for now.

I glanced around the theater, recognizing a few faces. Star was there. I smiled bitterly. Good. If she saw me with Elliot, then she would definitely tell Paulina that me and Danny were _over_. Even though I didn't like the idea, and I wasn't even sure if we were _over_, it would be good for the plan.

Sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice.

I could give up…

I looked at Elliot, who glanced quickly at the screen, pretending that he hadn't just been staring at me. Then I glanced back to Star.

Nope, I was in too deep.

Too late to turn back now…

But this was asinine.

Elliot peered at me in the darkness of the theater, smiling slightly. He reached out and patted my knee, leaving his hand there longer than normal; it was like he was comforting me. What the hell, this wasn't a _horror_ movie, or anything. Maybe he could sense my distress and obvious distaste towards him. Suddenly, he squeezed my knee.

I crossed my arms tighter and growled lowly.

Someone. Save. Me.

--

I sighed as I stood just outside of the theater - wanting to run away but knowing that it'd do nothing for me, waiting for Elliot who was getting refills on his drink. ("Just for the road - we might get thirsty," He had said cheekily. My arm still twitched with the urge to slap him.)

He had made a few more moves to hold my hand, put his arm around me, and even _kiss_ me during the movie, but he hadn't gone past slinging his arm across my shoulders. And even _then_ I felt like tearing him limb from limb. I suppose that the ride there wasn't so bad, he was a good person to talk to, I guess. But seriously, _I didn't like him that way and he was clueless._

Almost more clueless than Danny, and I had thought that THAT was impossible. Guess I was wrong. (More wrong than I was while doing this…)

I hope Danny knew that doing this wasn't easy for me. That it was _killing _me. And that I was so so _so_ sorry and I really, really loved him.

But he _did_ know this, because I had slipped a note in his locker that said so. Ha.

I was trying my best to stay optimistic (and that is SO unlike me, I know) with this whole thing. Danny would get over it soon enough, and my Plan would go perfectly, leaving Paulina heartbroken and everyone (and every_thing_) in the world just happy and free.

Would it happen that way?

Noo, of course not. But I could pretend that I was fine and everything was okay. I was very good at it, if I do say so myself.

I held my breath slightly as Elliot stepped out of the theater lobby and into the night, handing me my drink with a grin.

I gave him a tight, fake smile right back.

Pretending. Easy.

_Right_.

--

Talk about déjà vu.

I was standing on my porch with Elliot, feeling awkward and uneasy. He was going to kiss me - or at least _try_ and kiss me, and I just had a feeling that it wouldn't be as anti-climactic as it had been with Parker or as _wonderful_ as it was with Danny. I just couldn't _let_ him kiss me, in my mind I was still with Danny, anyways…

"Thanks for tonight," He murmured. The glasses were still off. Again, his eyes were nice, but _not for me_…

I let out a small, nervous laugh. "Yeah, no problem…"

"You know…I didn't really plan on telling Paulina or anyone else about the Plan," He admitted sheepishly and my head shot off, glaring at him. I was about to say something when he continued, "To be completely truthful, I don't even know what you're 'plan' is. I just know there _is_ one. I couldn't have told anyone if I wanted to."

I was shaking, because I was so mad.

_He was dead and so was I_.

"You DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT?!" I took two steps back from him, forgetting to remind myself (that's a weird phrase!) about the renovating my parents were doing on the porch and that taking one unplanned step could be my death. I almost tripped over a power saw (fuck), but I quickly stepped over it and regained my balance. "You lied to me!"

"I'm sorry. Is it so bad that I wanted just one date with you?" He was still smiling, the bastard.

"YES! This ruined me! This ruined _me and Danny_. This ruined The Plan!" I wailed, wanting to hit something. Hm, I could hit the wall…

Elliot's expression changed violently, the smile slipping right off his face. His eyes darkened slightly and he sneered at me. "Really, Sam? It ruined everything, huh? Kind of like how you ruined what Paulina and Danny had?" He reached into his pocket and started to put on his glasses.

I was shocked, but only for a few seconds. "Uh, _excuse me? _Who are you KIDDING? Paulina and Danny don't _belong_ together, she's evil! They needed to be broken up-"

"That's what _you_ think." He muttered.

I stopped, gazing at him while he cleaned his glasses off his shirt. "What is this about, Elliot? Did Paulina ask you to do this?"

I took his silence as a yes.

I shook my head, feeling tears coming to my eyes. "Paulina did this. She did this on _purpose_. She asked you to lie to me and blackmail me to ruin what me and Danny had. So then The Plan wouldn't work and I would have _nothing_."

Elliot shrugged, still not looking at me.

"So, what do you get out of it, Elliot? Money? Are you a Popular now? Do you get some sort sick kind of satisfaction with being Paulina's lackey and ruining my life? _Do you_?!" I yelled, the tears starting a trail down my cheeks. I couldn't keep it in anymore…

He put on his glasses, looking up at me. I couldn't see his eyes. He obviously wanted it that way. "I'm sorry."

That was it. He walked off the porch, back to his car, opened the door, started the engine and drove away…and out of my sight.

This sucked. I sunk down to the ground, not caring that it felt like I was sitting on sharp, rusty nails and it was _freezing_ cold out here. I forgot about The Plan, about Paulina, and about my Tucker and Dash's sudden aversion to me, about everything except the little huge fact that I HAD SCREWED UP BEYOND REPAIR AND IT WAS OVER.

Over over over. For real, this time.

I cried harder, remembering the many times Danny had walked away from me, and the way Elliot had just walked away a few minutes (hours, days, weeks, months, years?) ago.

It seemed like I was watching people walk away a lot, lately.

--

**I expect to get to 100 reviews this time! Only four to go, anyways! Yes. I was in a slightly angsty mood while writing this, I apologize.**

**You guys like it? Leave it in a review! (:**


	14. my heart is barely beating, baby

**I didn't expect so many reviews! Thanks a lot, guys! I'm sooo sorry this took so long to update, by the way. Life is just…busy…lame excuse, I know. But it's true. Also, the last chapter should've been "Chapter 13", so it was a typo. My bad!**

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 14:**_

_**my heart is barely beating, baby**_

_**--**_

I was officially in the worst, most miserable stage in my entire life.

And I had been through a lot: the neglected and lonely feeling I had felt during my childhood and even my teen years from my parent's absence, the hidden pain I felt when I heard Danny talk about Paulina, the even _worse_ pain I felt while Danny was _dating_ Paulina, the slight emptiness in my chest while dating Parker, and the misery and sadness after me and Danny's fight.

So yes, I have experienced pain before.

And right now, sitting alone on one of those lame ski lifts, trying to adjust my hat and gloves and watching all the couples and happy people all around me. Watching Danny, who still refused to speak to me, and Tucker and Dash who had distanced themselves from me.

But I really had no one to blame but myself; and I could not even blame Paulina, this time. I had been the one hell-bent on revenge, _I_ was the one who just couldn't let things be. I screwed everything up.

I just didn't know how to fix it.

It was the second day of the Annual Ski Trip, and the cold and snow just made me feel even more miserable. Everyone seemed to get closer at this time, and I was still alone.

On top of that, I couldn't even do the Plan anymore. Paulina had been the one who forced Elliot to ask me on a date, and I had been foolish enough to believe that Elliot knew about the Plan. I pretty much took whatever Danny and I had and ripped it up, throwing it away without any way of retrieving it.

To be completely honest, I. Was. _Fucked_.

I hopped off the ski lift at the right time, stumbling a little and hardly caring enough to stop myself from falling down. Things kept on getting worse from here, and it had gotten to the point that I felt physically sick; I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, and I certainly couldn't smile. If I did eat, I just threw it up later. I was always cold, even huddled underneath five blankets and sitting in front of a blazing fire.

And when I looked into the mirror, I could see that my skin much, much paler that normal, and the dark purple circles just below my eyes. I didn't bother with make-up anymore, I just didn't care.

I was thinking about how to make things right again, though…and maybe getting possible revenge. I was so screwed up and hopeless, why not think of a completely different Plan? It couldn't get worse, for sure. Things surely couldn't do anything but go up from here.

But of course, I was wrong. Like usual.

--

There was a party tonight.

It was one of those secret, un-chaperoned parties with alcohol and all; parties I usually didn't attend because they were so overrated. But it was taking place in the girls' cabin, and I was definitely not leaving. So yes, it sucked that there were about 3 couples in the room I shared with some classmates, making-out. I was just sitting on the couch, alone, holding a half-drank cup of rum and coke.

And of course, I hardly ever drank alcohol.

So there was definitely something wrong with me.

I felt the couch dip as someone sat next to me, too close to be a stranger. I turned my head slowly, glancing at the person sitting next to me.

Parker Thompson was smiling, his eyes sparkling as he caught the shocked and awed expression on my face. I could see the small falter in his smile as he took in my appearance; of how ragged and horrible I know I looked. But he didn't say anything.

"What are you _doing_ here?!" I practically yelled, turning my whole body to face him.

He shrugged casually. "Why would I miss this?" He gestured to the party going on around us. "It's…great fun." I raised a brow, not believing a word he said. His smile then almost disappeared completely, and he shot me a sympathetic look. "And…Tucker told me what happened. I came here to -"

I stiffened, my face becoming a cold, hard mask; totally void of emotion. I turned away from him. "I'm fine. I don't need your help."

"Is that so?" He smirked.

I looked down at the cup in my hands. "Yes. I don't need anyone's help." I whispered.

And now I couldn't help but question myself: Who was I kidding, anymore? Everyone could see how broken up I was, so why lie?

"I don't believe that." He stated quietly. He leaned closer to me, attempting to put his arm around me.

I shot up from the couch with the most enthusiasm I've had in a long time, and set my cup down on the coffee table beside me. "It's okay, Parker, really. I really appreciate you wanting to help me, but I'm fine. It's not necessary. I really wish…Tucker…he shouldn't have called you. It's not as bad as everyone thinks."

He knew everything I was saying was total bullshit, just by the way I was very, very close to tears and how I wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Sam-"

"I have to go." I interrupted abruptly, running off once again.

I couldn't let Parker do this. I didn't deserve such a friendship like his, I didn't deserve any help whatsoever. I made my bed, and now I was lying in it. I was paying my dues for the mess I had made. And besides, I hurt everyone who got close to me. I hurt Dash, I hurt Danny, I hurt Tucker, and I hurt Parker. From here on out, I would just distance myself from human contact, because I just made everything worse, anyways.

Now, outside in the freezing cold without proper attire, I wrapped my arms around myself and made my way to the payphone only a few yards away from the cabin; for "emergencies only."

This was an emergency, alright.

I dug a few quarters out of my pocket and put them, dialing the number slowly.

"Hello?"

"Mom?"

"Sam, is that you? Why are you calling? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

I shook my head, sniffing. "Yeah, it's me." I avoided all the other question, I didn't want her to know how bad off I was.

"How are you, honey?"

I shrugged and sniffed again. I couldn't even stop the tears from falling, now. I just truly hoped they didn't freeze on my face. That's just how cold it was. "I'm okay."

Lie, after lie, after lie. Do you believe me, mom?

"Are you sure?" I'll take that as a no.

"…no. But I will be."

She sighed. "Oh Sammy. I'm sorry."

I couldn't stop it then. I let out a strangled sob, trying to hold back the worst of my tears so my mother wouldn't hear. But I know she knew, because I wasn't doing a very good job at hiding it. My whole body shook, a mixture of my sobs and the cold. I looked up to see a few snow flakes start to fall and land in my dark hair. Just _wonderful_.

"I want to go home." I felt like such a child.

"You can do this, Sam. You're a trooper. You're strong. You'll find a way to fix everything, I just know it."

And as I continued to listen to my mother's encouraging words and crying out to absolutely no one, an idea had suddenly formed in my head.

It was time to stop playing around.

And Paulina was going _down_.

For real, this time.

--

I was sick. I knew it was coming; the combination of the cold and snow and my poor health habits had finally caught to me, and it was a great struggle just getting dressed this morning. My throat was sore, my head was pounding, my body ached, and I had a raging fever. I took medicine every few hours, but what I really needed was antibiotics and a few days of rest.

But I was on a mission, and no one was going to stop me now.

"Parker, I need your help." I coughed, trying to keep myself looking composed…and un-sick. I thought I had been doing a good job at it, until I spoke.

His eyes widened as he gazed at me. "Sam, no offense, but you look horrible." I shrugged, not even coming up with a witty retort like usual. "But yes, I will help you." He smiled.

"It's about Paulina." He nodded. "And Danny." He nodded again.

"I know. What do I need to do?"

I really hated asking Parker to help me, but if I wanted things to change, I would have to suck it up. Parker was my only exception, and if things went right with Plan B, then I would definitely be more careful with relationships and such, because there was no way I was going to screw everything once they were okay again.

_If_ they were ever okay again, that is.

"Okay, first, I need you to get Paulina alone. Tell her you need to show her something, or talk to her or whatever. I don't really care, just get her alone. Can you do that?" I sniffed and felt my forehead. My fever felt like it was getting _worse_. My head throbbed painfully. He nodded again.

"Sure can, when are we doing this?"

I forced a smile.

"You busy right now?"

He shook his head slowly, a wary look in his eyes.

The smile became more real after a moment, and I felt suddenly mischievous and particularly evil. "Good. Let's go."

--

I coughed. I tried to make it discreet, but it totally didn't work. It kinda made me look like I was dying, or something, Hell, I _felt_ like I was dying, so what did it matter?

I was almost _excited_ to get Paulina back for all that she had done to me. I mean…she _was_ pretty much the number one reason for my pain (besides myself), right? Right. So that means she would just have to go. Like now.

I could see Danny. He was with Tucker, glaring at everything and ignoring Paulina. She knew about us, of course. Starr had seen Elliot and I at the movies and basically told the whole school that Danny and I had either broken up, or I was cheating on him. They believed the former, of course. Paulina was making a lot of advances on Danny, now, which was exactly what supposed to happen in the original Plan, and it was expected.

So far, so good.

Now, Plan B was just this: I was to somehow get myself in trouble, danger, or injure myself somehow (but make it look _real_, duh) and then _Parker_ would save/help me, getting Danny/Phantom jealous and throwing a fit (like usual) and then…that will totally ruin Paulina.

Perfect, right?

But basically I'll have total déjà vu, you know…with the Pier incident after all. Not fun, but it's just another sacrifice. I was used to those.

And before, I had been positive the Plan would work, but now I'm thinking that earlier I was completely delirious and this was effing_ crazy_.

But I had to go through with it now, I couldn't just go back…

I planned on "injuring" myself by "falling" off the ski lift. Maybe "getting my leg stuck" and "pulling a muscle." I couldn't think of anything else that would be better, so now I was sitting in the ski lift, now, almost ready to make a second run…I was too chicken to actually pretend to injure myself, because I was a little afraid of _actually_ hurting myself.

Someone would probably get on the lift with me, but I was hoping no one would. Maybe I could take up as much room as I could to make it look unavailable -

_PLOP._

Too late, someone was sitting next to me.

No, not just _someone_…

Paulina.

--

**Who did you think it would be, Danny? I admit, he was my first choice…but I have **_**plans**_** for the next chapter. REVIEW!**


	15. don't hold your breath pt 1

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 15: don't hold your breath (part 1)**_

------------------

I stared, stunned, at the person occupying the seat next to me.

"Paulina?" I croaked, and then suddenly wish I hadn't even talked at all.

She turned her head towards me, her dark eyes in a full-force glare, and I felt like I could burn up in her gaze and just die.

Although I was already so hot I was burning, and I felt like I was dying anyways…so it didn't matter much. But still!

This bitch was crazy.

Not only crazy. But crazy for blood.

My blood.

"I thought you died," She sneered at me, and I had to roll my eyes a little at the ironic comment.

"Thanks, so much. Because I know I'm just that invisible." I stated with a hint of self-mockery, not even hiding the fact that I knew I was so unpopular that it was hilarious.

She was quiet for a moment, like she was shocked by what I said. Get used to it, sister. I don't have much self-esteem these days.

"Well, at least you're not lying to yourself."

Aaaand she strikes again. As harsh as ever.

And it was at this moment that I realized that the Plan was ruined. I mean, I was obviously stuck in this ski lift with Paulina, and Parker/Danny/Tucker was nowhere to be seen.

I was screwed.

I could die up here, and Paulina would probably _eat me_.

Okay, that was a little dramatic. Paulina wasn't a cannibal.

At least, I hoped not.

DAMNIT.

* * *

Parker was innocently standing at the end of the ski lift, where Sam was supposedly getting off any minute now. He could see Danny, Tucker, and a few other people including Starr and the rest of the Populars standing nearby.

He didn't see Paulina around anywhere, but he hoped she would show up soon…or the Plan would be worthless.

And suddenly, as if some invisible force had pushed him forcefully into the small space of wall of the control center of the ski lift.

He didn't even have time to blink.

"_What_ are you doing here?" A dangerous voice hissed.

And right before Parker's eyes, a green and white figure formed in front of him.

Phantom?

Oh, not _him_ again.

"Um…not much. What about you?"

Phantom's eyes narrowed, and Parker attempted to look past him and to the small crowd of people. Where had Danny and Tucker gone?

"Hi Parker." Parker turned his head at the new voice, and found Tucker smirking at him. "Long time no see. Where's Sam?" He asked curiously.

His eyes narrowed. "I'm not telling you guys. Where's Danny?"

Tucker grinned and glanced at Phantom, who just growled. "Where do you _think_?"

There was a moment of silence, and Tucker coughed. "Phantom. Danny. Same person." And then he coughed again.

Parker's eyes widened, "You're joking."

"Not a bit." Phantom smirked, his green eyes glowing eerily.

Tucker laughed. "Well, if you tell anyone…no, you won't tell anyone, right?" He raised a brow.

Parker shook his head. "I won't. Are you going to leave me alone?"

Phantom rolled his eyes, but he still hadn't removed Parker's shirt out of his iron fist, and Parker was starting to get fidgety. "Of course not. I'm on a mission."

"What kind of mission?"

"To find Sam, of course." Phantom's/Danny's eyes narrowed once again. "Now tell me, where is she?"

Parker whistled lowly. "I thought you two broke-up."

Phantom closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them again, the bright green was now a shade or two darker. "She's. My. Girlfriend. Tell. Me. _Where she is_." He commanded quietly.

But Parker had long decided that if he was going to stick with the Plan, he would not give into his fear.

(But he was still a little afraid.)

"No. I don't think I will. Because you decided to leave Sam alone when she decided to do the Plan, which is totally fine by me. Whatever. But she needed help. And in that help that I am giving her, I am not allowed to give away her…location."

Tucker snorted. "Wow. Sam is crazier than I thought -"

"Shut up! Both of you!" Phantom let go of Parker's shirt and sighed, running his hand through his snow-white hair. He started to pace slowly. "What I said to Sam was wrong. I don't care what you say. But I heard she was sick last night and I went crazy. Is she really that bad?" He asked Parker.

Parker just sighed, finally relaxing a little. "Yeah, actually…she is. I don't know what's wrong with her…but she kinda looks like a zombie. Or, you know. A double zombie. Because she's already pale, and stuff."

Tucker just snorted again. "You're crazy, too."

Parker just glared at him.

"I need to talk to her." Phantom said abruptly, as he stopped his incessant pacing. "Tell me where she is!"

"No! You're going to have to wait until the Plan is -"

And then, there was a sudden shocking, shrieking noise, like metal was scraping rusty metal, and the ski lift came to an abrupt stop.

And it didn't start moving again.

Parker groaned. "Shit! This Plan is going down the toilet…"

Tucker stared at the ski lift. "She's on there, isn't she?"

Phantom looked around wildly. "Awesome. Thanks Tuck. I'll go find her."

"No!" Parker put a hand on Phantom's shoulder, but of course…he had already disappeared. "Damnit!"

And for the fifteenth-thousandth time that night, Tucker snorted. "You're screwed."

"Shut _up_, Tucker."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Paulina, I do believe you and I need to have a serious talk." I stated, coughing into my gloved hand right afterwards.

She glared at me again, and I just coughed some more.

"No, we don't."

"Yes we do."

"No."

"Yes."

"NO."

"…YES."

"…about what? And it's not like I would _ever_ want to talk to you about -"

"It's about Danny." Paulina definitely shut her mouth then, and she didn't look at me.

"What about him?" She asked suspiciously, sniffing lightly.

"Do you like him?"

"Why would I?"

"You dated him."

"So did you."

Ouch. Harsh.

"I know."

"You're not anymore, then? The rumors are true? Hmph." She smirked at me. "I knew it wouldn't last."

I took the insults in stride, and didn't protest to her words. "Um, shit happens, I suppose." I tried to make the whole thing seem casual to me, but she could probably tell that I was hiding something.

Unless Paulina was as stupid as I thought she was.

"Sure does. You're with Elliot now?"

I froze. Oh yes. Elliot. "Well, not exactly. It's complicated."

Wow. It almost seems like Paulina and I were having a civil conversation. About my love life.

Intriguing.

She rolled her eyes, and glared at me again. "Whatever, freak. So Danny-cakes is all single now, isn't he?" I cringed at the sudden change of tone, the predatory glint in her eye, and the almost-evil smirk on her face.

And now, I hated her more than ever.

"I guess so." I gritted out almost painfully.

"Perfect." She quipped, and then didn't say another word.

"Paulina, you are so _stupid_!" I suddenly outraged, not able to hold it in any longer.

It was quite a funny sight, really. Her eyes widened, her mouth dropped, and she turned to me, all riled up like a cat who got thrown into a bathtub.

_Priceless._

"What did you just say?!" She shrieked.

I rolled my eyes, and decided that I was suddenly very, very hot. I unwrapped my scarp that was covering most of my face and then adjusted my hat so she could see my eyes.

She winced at me. "Wow, you look horrible," She sneered, and I ignored her.

"You are completely stupid, Paulina. You really think you can get away with this twice? You think that Danny will date you again, just so you can get close to Phantom? I don't think so. Not again. Not _ever_ again. Danny is still _my_ boyfriend, I don't care what you do-"

My awesome rant got cut off, unfortunately, a horrible screeching noise reached my ears, and the wholes ski lift halted to a sudden stop.

Well, it seems I'm stuck up here, huh?

Just my luck…

Paulina and I were quiet for a long moment, and I mourned over the fact that the moment had been ruined, and my train of thought was lost.

Damn. I had been on a _roll_.

Paulina glared at me again, "Every time I'm close to you, something bad happens! You're…bad luck, or something! I _hate _you, you've ruined _everything!_"

Now, I'm not naïve. I'm not stupid. I've always known that Paulina hated me…

…but I didn't know that she ever had the courage to say it to my face.

"Good! Because I hate you, too! And to be honest, I've always hated you. You think that the world revolves around you, when it obviously _doesn't. _You can't always get what you want, Paulina. You can't use Danny again. You don't have that power anymore!"

My face was probably more red, my throat was on _fire_, and this sudden, tremendous dizzy feeling took over and I blinked a few times.

Paulina was silent. And then, she opened her mouth, as if to yell or scream at me, but she immediately got a misty look in her eyes, and instead of looking at me, she was looking past me, and I glanced over my shoulder only to see…

"Da - Phantom?!"

* * *

**I wasn't really sure when I wanted to end this chapter. I thought, "I could end here, or keep going." If I keep going, there will be a lot less chapter and this story will end much sooner. If I end here, this story will be more prolonged…do I want that?**

**You guys have waited long enough for this chapter, even if it is a tad on the short side. Keep in mind this story is on it's last leg. (:**

**Review!**


	16. don't hold your breath pt 2

_**confessions of a teenager in denial**_

_**Chapter 16: don't hold your breath (part 2)**_

* * *

"Phantom?!" Paulina squealed excitedly, and I almost started choking.

Talk about an awkward situation.

Danny didn't look once towards Paulina, but kept his intense, glowing eyes trained on me. It made me a little nervous, to be honest. I felt like I was in trouble.

"Sam…are you okay?"

Suddenly, I wondered if Danny actually remembered that he was in ghost-form, and if he needed reminding. Because there was no way he was letting his secret get out to the whole world, just because…because…well, probably because of me. Of course.

I tugged my hat down. "Sure, fine. Um, what are you doing here?"

Play it cool, Sam. Pretend like Phantom isn't actually Danny, your kind-of-sort-of-boyfriend-who-you-haven't-actually-broken-up-with-but-you're-not-really-sure, and just act like this situation is easy, even if it's not.

"I heard you were seriously sick. You don't look so good…" For the first time, Danny glanced towards Paulina, and I saw that Paulina's delighted smile was slipping away, bit by bit. Was she jealous, because "Phantom" was paying more attention to me, and not her?

Oh.

The _Plan_.

Danny was putting The Plan into action, without even knowing it!

I had trained him well. I hid a mischievous smile.

"Paulina? What's going on here?"

Danny looked back to me, confused and startled. I shrugged. "I don't know."

Paulina huffed. "I've been stuck up here with this loser! Oh, won't you help me down?" She outstretched her arms like she was a small child, looking for someone to pick her up and hold her.

Of course, when I was ranting earlier, I had been right. Danny wasn't falling for her little trap again. Maybe now he could see right through her, into the fake, superficial, pathetic little human being she really was. Danny just raised a brow, unimpressed.

"Sam isn't a loser," He smiled softly at me, and I couldn't help but grin weakly. "In fact, I think I'll help Sam down now. But you'll be fine, Paulina. Maybe this will give you the opportunity to think, being up here all alone. Don't freeze to death, now."

I was laughing by then, choked but whole-hearted laughter, which sounded quite pathetic in my ears, but I didn't really care. Things were turning out well, even though that this wasn't even close to the _end_, I felt like I was at least getting _something_ that resembled to a happy ending.

I mean, girl gets guy, evil bitch gets put down.

Who doesn't love that?

* * *

When I was safely on the ground again, even though I couldn't really feel my feet or any other part of my body, I was just very relieved and very, _very_ tired.

I was not, however, very surprised to see Parker and Tucker standing at the end of the ski lift. I waved to them. "Hi guys, what's up?" I asked casually, and Parker chuckled.

"Well, how'd it go?"

I shrugged, wiping a strand of hair out of my eyes. "I think it went very well. But I might just pass out any second," I muttered, swaying on my feet a little.

To be honest, I didn't really know what I was saying. I felt a little delirious, probably from the fever I'd had the past few days. Wow, this probably wasn't good.

Then, I felt hands on my shoulders. I couldn't feel any temperature, just the comforting weight, so I wasn't sure if Danny had changed back into his human form yet. And I really didn't feel like moving my head to look.

"Maybe we should get you inside, where it's safe and warm," He murmured in my ear, and I could feel myself melting a little.

I nodded, pulling on my hat as if it were my safety blanket. It was basically my only source of real warmth, anyways.

"Wait, hold up - I wanna know all the details, man!" Tucker flailed his arms a little. He looked like a girl he when he does that, I mused. I giggled to myself.

"Why don't you go ask _Paulina_? I'm sure she'd be grateful if you helped her down," I cast a glance towards her, still up in the ski lift, and Tucker and Parker's gazes followed mine.

Tucker smirked. "Well, I guess that's enough for now…but you're not off the hook, young lady!" He waggled his finger at me. I rolled my eyes. "We'll talk about this tomorrow."

"Huh. Okay, sir, whatever you say." I grumbled. He just grinned at me.

Parker smiled. "I'll make sure he stays out of your guys' way, alright? I think you should go inside now before you get even more sick."

I think I smiled. But I'm not really sure. "That's hardly possible."

Danny stepped in beside me, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that had indeed changed back into human form. I blinked tiredly at him and the arm around my shoulders tightened.

He smiled at me, softly, and I of course, smiled back.

"Let's go inside."

* * *

"Danny."

My voice, which I tried to make sound confident and clear, came out as a shy-sounding whisper. I cringed slightly.

We were both laying on my bed, ignoring all the rules the counselors spent an hour and a half pounding into our brains before we even left. Plus, it's not like we were going to _do_ anything.

I was facing the wall, and Danny was laying beside me, facing my back. His arms were wrapped comfortably around me and I stroked his hand, sighing.

"Hm?"

I could tell he was even closer to sleep than I was. "What made you change your mind?"

There was a long pause. I inwardly scolded myself. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up…

"What do you mean?"

I coughed. "You know, when we fought at my house that day. When I told you that Elliot asked me out? You said that I all I care about is Paulina and getting revenge. And to leave you out of it."

It was surprisingly easy to recall the events, but it was not so easy to say them aloud to him.

He tensed. I stopped stroking his hand abruptly and Danny's hands gripped my arms, turning me around quickly to face him. Of course, it was so quick I barely knew what was happening.

When I completely opened my weary eyes, I saw that his face looked slightly pained.

Yeah, I really shouldn't have brought it up. But it was too late for that kind of thinking now!

"I said that, didn't I?"

I refrained from rolling my eyes. "Yes, you did. But that's okay, because you were completely right. And I'm so so so _so_ sorry that I did that to you."

Danny closed his eyes and sighed. "Sam, don't be sorry. You didn't do anything."

"No, you're wrong! I did! I went on that stupid date with Elliot and got screwed over, of course. And I came here, looking for revenge on Paulina, and got sick. That's karma, Danny. And the only reason I got revenge is because of _you_. I couldn't have done any of this without you, don't you see? I really should be sorry!"

I was very close to be hysterical at the moment, and Danny seemed stunned into silence.

"Wow. Just…wow." He breathed out slowly, his breath soothing my burning forehead. "So…tell me about this date with Elliot."

I almost burst into laughter. "It was horrible," I choked out.

"Who would've guessed?" He smirked down at me.

"I knew I should've listened to you. And Tucker. And Dash. And my _mother_," I groaned.

"Let's not get off track here, Sam. I want to know all the details about this date."

I raised a brow at him. "Uh, why?"

"Because I'd really like to know if he made a wrong move, or not. If he did, I'd probably have to hurt him. He did go on this trip, didn't he?"

My eyes widened when I saw the green tinge glowing in his normally blue eyes. "Danny, no. It was horrible, because I wasn't with you. And yeah, he made a few moves -"

"What kind of moves?"

I growled. "MOVES, DANNY. MOVES. He just…put his arm around me and stuff during the movie. But I didn't let him, I swear." I was kind of sucking up to him.

Danny chuckled, amusement in his now fully green eyes. "I'm not worried about you, Sam. It's _him_ I don't trust."

I nodded. "Well, you shouldn't. I sure don't. But the worst part was the _end_ of the date, oh my gosh. I found out that Elliot was only going on that effing date with me because Paulina paid him off!" Danny's eyes flashed dangerously, but I kept talking. Right now, I honestly didn't care about what happened to Elliot or Paulina. "She wanted to ruin you and me…and it kind of worked…" I finished with a grumble.

"What? No it didn't." He looked appalled.

My eyes shot back to his. "Huh? Yes it did! You got mad at me and didn't speak to me for _days_. Not that I don't blame you, but I'm pretty sure that it's not _all_ my fault…"

Danny just shook his head. "Like I said before, Sam. Let it go. And for real this time. It's over. We're together. The end."

I snorted. "You could've left the _The End_ part out. That's so cliché. It's not like we're going to be driving off into the sunset or -"

Danny cut me off with a swift kiss on my lips, rendering me speechless. I had just begun to kiss him back when he pulled away. "Just shut up, Sam." His tone was teasing.

I weakly hit his arm and giggled. "Fine, whatever."

"Oh, and I will be talking to Elliot. Well, maybe not talking. Probably some hitting and pushing and slamming into walls -"

"Danny," I said in a warning tone.

He just laughed, loudly this time, and kissed me again. A long, languid kiss. I melted.

But with a sudden thought, I pulled away. "Wait, you never answered my question!" I moved my head to the side when he tried to reach my lips again. He settled for kissing me on the nose.

"What question?"

"What made you change your mind?"

"Oh, that question. Well, I found out that Parker was here. And…let's just say that I got really mad. I thought he was there because he heard what happened between us and wanted to ask you out, or something." I snorted. He ignored my comment on how ridiculous I thought that idea was and continued, "And I guess I just realized how stupid I was being. I can't let you go, Sam. I was miserable those days whenever we weren't speaking. I just wanted to give you a hug." He smiled, and I felt myself turning into a little puddle on the bed sheets with his honest words.

"I was miserable too!" I whined.

"I could tell," He smirked, and I frowned at him. "I also wasn't too happy when I saw that you were sick. Which you still are, by the way, and you need sleep." I smiled innocently. "You haven't been taking good care of yourself, have you?"

My jaw dropped in disbelief. "Of course I have! I mean…mostly. I was just too miserable to care. But I'm not really used to such cold weather, either."

"Oh, that's okay. You can just stay right here for the remainder of the trip." Danny made a show of tucking the covers around me tightly, and I laughed at his efforts. He grinned and kissed me on the forehead.

"Only if you're staying with me."

"Always."

* * *

**This is short, but overdue. This is technically the "last chapter" but I'll be writing an epilogue for you.  
**

**Review****!**


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